November 1, 2018
First seen in the LJ-starred Twenty-One Days, Daniel Pitt--the lawyer son of Perry's popular Thomas and Charlotte Pitt--faces a sticky case. His sister Jemima is back in London from the States, as is British diplomat Sydney, who's accused of stealing a family heirloom from a friend of Jemima. Alas, Daniel is set to defend him but suspects that he's not been told the whole story
Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
February 25, 2019
Bestseller Perry’s so-so sequel to 2018’s Twenty-One Days, likewise set in 1910 and featuring London attorney Daniel Pitt, offers some intriguing plot twists but little more. A visit to London from Daniel’s sister, Jemima, and her family, who live in Washington, D.C., puts Daniel in a difficult professional position. Jemima’s policeman husband, Patrick Flannery, asks Daniel to help get justice for Rebecca Thorwood, who belongs to one of Washington’s most prominent families. The Thorwood home was broken into in the middle of the night by an intruder who ripped a diamond pendant off Rebecca’s neck. Her father recognized the criminal as Philip Sidney, a diplomat at the British embassy, who later fled back to England after claiming diplomatic immunity. When Sidney is charged with embezzlement in a separate case, Daniel agrees to defend him in court, but the news that an employee of the British embassy in Washington has turned up dead creates complications. The action builds to an overly melodramatic denouement. Perry will need to inject Daniel with more depth for this series to succeed. Agent: Donald Maass, Donald Maass Literary.
March 1, 2019
This second case for fledgling Edwardian lawyer Daniel Pitt (Twenty-One Days, 2018) shows him making a serious bid to emerge from the long shadow of his father, Sir Thomas Pitt, head of Special Branch.Daniel hasn't seen his elder sister, Jemima, since she moved to America and married police officer Patrick Flannery. Now his brother-in-law introduces himself to Daniel with a disconcerting request. Rebecca Thorwood has been attacked in her bedroom and robbed of a diamond pendant by a fleeing assailant her father, Washington philanthropist Tobias Thorwood, has identified as British diplomat Philip Sidney. Before he could be arrested, Sidney fled to the British Embassy and then sailed for England, where he's claimed diplomatic immunity. Could Daniel help make him pay for his outrage, for example by arranging for him to be arrested on some other charge of which he could be tried and convicted? While Daniel's puzzling over whether and how he really wants to get entangled in this case, Sidney is providentially arrested on a charge of embezzling embassy funds while he was still in America, and Daniel, at Patrick's urging, insinuates himself onto his legal team, aiming to provide a defense just plausible enough to allow him to be convicted. Two sudden turns change his plans dramatically: Senior barrister Toby Kitteridge is forced to withdraw from the defense, leaving Daniel as Sidney's sole attorney and under significant pressure from head of chambers Marcus fford Croft to get him exonerated; and the body of Morley Cross, the embassy staffer who compiled an extensive dossier of evidence against Sidney, is fished out of the Potomac River shot to death. Now Daniel wonders if his client really is guilty of assault, theft, embezzlement, murder, or none of the above.Veteran Perry dials back the period detail and the updates on the lives of the continuing characters to focus on one of her most teasing mysteries, this time with a courtroom finale that may be her strongest ever.
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March 15, 2019
Moving into a second case after the Graves incident (Twenty-One Days, 2018), Daniel Pitt, junior barrister, finds himself defending a British diplomat accused of embezzlement and suspected of far worse. Pitt the Younger is the son of Charlotte and Thomas Pitt, stars of one of Perry's long-running earlier series. This time out, Daniel find himself at odds with his sister, Jemima, while he battles with the Foreign Office to get the information he needs to proceed. Readers may find themselves smitten with Daniel and with the dauntless Miriam Fforde Croft, whose relationship with Daniel deepens in this episode. When they head out together, Miriam is at the wheel, because Daniel can't drive. Primarily identified for her authentic period sets and well-rendered characters, Perry writes in what she has called the Put Your Heart on the Page method, with the focus placed squarely on what happens to people under the pressure of investigation. This book is an excellent example of her craft.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)