Slaves Of Obsession

Slaves of Obsession by Anne Perry In Slaves of Obsession
Anne Perry thrusts her returning hero William Monk into
the midst of the American Civil War. Monk is not choosing
sides in this war based on the convictions of the Union or
the Confederacy. Instead he must put aside his principles
to get to the bottom of a complex case involving gun
smuggling blackmail and murder. Slaves of Obsession begins
with a dinner party at the home of Daniel and Judith
Alberton. William Monk and his wife Hester meet not only
the host and the hostess at this intimate gathering but
also Judiths cousin Robert Casbolt a Union sympathizer
named Lyman Breeland and the Albertons 16-year-old
daughter Merritt. Although Breeland is quick to share his
convictions Daniel Robert and Judith remain more reticent
on the topic of the war and try to change the subject.
When an unexpected visitor named Philo Trace a member of
the Confederate army arrives their taciturnity regarding
the Civil War becomes all too clear. Daniel and Robert
deal in arms and have made a previous agreement with Trace
to sell him guns for the Confederacy — guns that Breeland
desperately wants for his sacred Union. Having to choose
sides in the Civil War is the least of Alberton and
Casbolts problems however. They soon turn to Monk for help
as they are embroiled in a blackmail scheme in which an
unknown person wants them to sell their valuable guns to
pirates; if they fail to do so an altruistic secret of
theirs will be revealed in such a way that their
reputations will be ruined. Monk agrees to aid them but
before he can begin to help everything spirals out of
control: When William and Hester are awakened by a knock
on their door their lives become entangled with murder; a
missing daughter whose passions are engaged not only by
the war; a Civil War battlefield; and a London courtroom.
Anne Perrys Victorian mysteries have always been more than
just simple whodunits and Slaves of Obsession is no
exception. At first glance it seems as though the Civil
War is at the center of the turmoil but theres much more
at the heart of this work in which love plays a more
crucial role than money or war. Perrys superior sense of
adventure and her peerless knowledge of the Victorian era
enable her readers to enter her worlds so completely that
they keep coming back for more.