From Publishers Weekly Having temporarily abandoned Victorian police inspector Thomas Pitt and his highborn wife， Charlotte， in her last， highly acclaimed novel， The Face of a Stranger ， Perry features the duo once again. She exhibits her customary skill in recreating 19th-century London， but here her well-drawn contrasts of upstairs and downstairs Victorian society have added psychological acuity. And her focus on a social issue--the secret ownership by members of high society of appalling slum housing--lends depth to the mystery surrounding the death of Clemency Shaw， a courageous woman who devoted her life-- and may have lost it--to exposing those who built their fortunes on the misery of the poor. Highgate is a posh Victorian neighborhood that becomes the scene of some highly dramatic house fires that consume people dear to Dr. Shaw， Clemency's husband， a free-speaking liberal who is Perry's most dynamic character to date. Just who is the target of these infernos? Thomas and Charlotte seek answers， while Charlotte in particular finds that Clemency's legacy of compassion did not die with her. Rounded out by a host of lively characters， this is a memorable tale. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information， Inc. From School Library Journal YA-- London in the 1890s is the setting for this page-turner. Inspector Thomas Pitt has been called in to help solve a murder in a fashionable suburb of the city. Clemency Shaw， the wife of a prominent physician， has been killed in a fire deliberately started in her house， but it's unclear whether she was the intended victim. As the inspector searches for clues， facts unravel and lead readers to the East End and an investigation of slum landlords. Through such characters as Clemency Shaw and Inspector Pitt's wife， Charlotte， Perry reveals the role of women in Victorian society--a time of boredom for middle- and upper-class women and extreme hardship for the working class. A gripping mystery as well as a look into the London of gas lights and foggy nights. --Roberta Lisker， W. T. Woodson High School， Fairfax， VA-Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information， Inc. See all Editorial Reviews