The Face of a Stranger

This is my favorite Anne Perry novel yet, and by far my favorite among her characters. William Monk is not an easy man to like except that we learn to know him as he is learning to know himself and his loss of memory brings both his natural abilities and his vulnerability to the forefront. An ingenious concept, well executed with a firm grounding of historical realism. I have found Perry’s style to be a tad tedious in other books, but Mr Monk is deliciously challenging and sympathetic- I wolfed this book down and am happily on the second in the series. The narrator’s exceptional skill is a plus; she tells the story beautifully!!

So enjoyed this intriguing 1800’s murder mystery, twice solved. Love Anne Perry’s descriptive writing and the narration was excellent. I was skeptical about a woman narrating a story where the main character is a male, but she nailed it!

A great book and Davina Porter is brilliant as always.

Anne Perry's first novel in her Monk series is British mystery writing at its best. The protagonist has been severely injured in a coach accident and has memory deficits which threaten to destroy him as he works to solve the murder of a third son in an aristocratic British family. Set after the Crimean War, Perry creates memorable female characters who defy customs of the time to work as nurses at the front and work to reveal the painful family secrets that must be exposed to solve the murder, protect the family's honor, and save Monk from ruination.