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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780804115629
ISBN number: 0804115621
Label: Ivy Books
Manufacturer: Ivy Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: August 30, 1997
Publishing house: Ivy Books
Release Date: August 30, 1997
Sale Popularity Level: 94901
Studio: Ivy Books
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
'Scenes [are] described in lush, sensuous strokes by Ms. Perry. . . . Monk, the dark and brooding hero . . . infuses this luxuriantly detailed series with its romantic soul.'
--The New York Times Book Review.
When Countess Zorah Rostova asks London barrister Sir Oliver Rathbone to defend her against a charge of slander, he is astonished to find himself accepting. For, without a shred of evidence, the countess insists that the prince of her small German principality was murdered by his wife, the woman who was responsible for his exile twenty years before. Though private investigator William Monk and his friend Hester Latterly, manage to establish that the prince was indeed murdered, as events unfold the likeliest suspect seems to be Countess Zorah herself. . . .
'THE DENOUEMENT IS UNEXPECTED AND INGENIOUS.'
--Los Angeles Times
'Perry serves up as arresting an opening as ever.'
--Kirkus Reviews
A MAIN SELECTION OF THE MYSTERY GUILD®
Amazon.com Review:
Perry's series about Victorian-age investigator William Monk is one of the crown jewels of the genre, and her latest keeps the standards high. Called to the small German principality of Felzburg, Monk finds himself involved in aristocratic murder, slander and politics. Two eras are ending -- English innocence and the independence of little states like Felzburg -- and as Monk and his associates work on this case, their efforts are shadowed by clouds of coming conflicts.
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Rated by buyers 
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This is not your usual Anne Perry, which is not an endorsement but more of a warning. From almost the very beginning of the story the author browbeats you with the one clue that if you know anything about flowers you will know who did the crime and how. There is very little suspense and no character development and by the end you couldn't care less if the beautiful (an adjective repeated constantly) Countess Zorah Rostova did the crime or not.
Referencing the audio version, the narrator does an admirable job with the narration and the male voices but he wasn't very good when it came to portraying the female characters lending a, if not intended, comedic slant to the book.
Rated by buyers -
Private inquiry agent William Monk is becoming something of a traveler; a couple of books ago, he went off to the wilds of Scotland on a case, and this time he takes his investigations to Venice and Germany. (From the enthusiasm with which she describes the city, I suspect the author must have visited Venice herself and gotten hooked on it.) Other than that, there's a certain Ruritanian element to the story this time. Oliver Rathbone, recently-knighted defense attorney, takes the case of a countess from a minor German state who has slandered the widow of the recently deceased husband by insisting she murdered him, and who is now facing a ruinous civil action. It's the great love story of the age, the crown prince who gives up the throne for the woman he loves, choosing to live in exile in Venice and Britain, still convinced a dozen years later that his people will invite him back. Monk investigates on Rathbone's behalf, searching for evidence of the defendant's claim, and uncovering apparent proof that the prince was in fact murdered -- but the widow is the only one who could *not* have done it, which doesn't help the countess. (I didn't find the argument for murder really very convincing, however.) Meanwhile, Hester is nursing a young man who is slowly recovering from what sounds like polio and who has lost the use of his legs. She brings in a damaged young woman from a previous book as a morale-boosting visitor and the two (naturally) develop a closer relationship. Monk finds himself ensnared by the comfortably idle lives of the rich (it's a weakness with him, especially regarding the women he meets), Rathbone agonizes over whether he was a fool to take on an impossible case, and Hester kibitzes both of them while pursuing her matchmaking. Unfortunately, Perry rather pulls the solution to the mystery out of a hat in the last couple of pages with no carefully dropped clues for the reader. And this is at least the third Monk novel in which the story line turns on botched abortions (which has to make one wonder whether Perry is anti-abortion rights today, using the lack of medical skills in the mid-Victorian period to make a specious case).
Rated by buyers -
This story plods along to it's rather lame solution. Interesting in parts, but is in the lower rungs of the Monk series.
(This novel does not really add anything new to the Monk/Hester/Rathbone relationship.)
Rated by buyers 
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I have not read any Anne Perry in a long time-- largely because I was not that impressed by what I had read of the Pitt novels. But I have to say that I really liked this book.
I found all the characters interesting because they had not only the trappings of the period, they also had the appropriate flaws. I liked that Monk did not really appreciate Hester as he should, and I liked his indecision about who to support in the slander trial.
The centerpiece notion of forgotten European history worked very well.
If you too have enjoyed Perry's books, but never really loved them, then you might enjoy Weighed in the Balance. Myself, I will look for more in the same series.
Rated by buyers -
What a disapointment. I love the William Monk series. I read Sins of the Wolf in three days and and quickly decided it was my favorite. Cain His Brother was just as compelling of a read and the details of Limehouse, the typhoid hospital and especially the chase seen were amazing. Couldn't wait to read this book, but quickly found that I couldn't wait for it to end. Ms. Perry's research on Victorian England is second to none, but I found this story in particular very forgetable. I agree with one reviewer that Hester's contribution to solving the cases is sometimes better than Monk's or Rathbone. Thank goodness Monk is finally starting to figure out that Hester's courage, friendship and brains is more attractive than beauty. Don't waste much time on this book, except to find out who did it and the subsequent step in Monk's and Hester's relationship.
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