[Thomas Pitt 06] • Bluegate Fields

Inspector Thomas Pitt is shocked. The body of a boy, clearly from the upper classes, has been found in the filthy sewers of Bluegate Fields, one of London’s most dangerous slums. What’s more, the unfortunate boy had been violated before he was murdered. So vile a case is hardly a topic for drawing-room conversation.

But when the Waybournes, the boy’s family, refuse to answer the police’s questions, Inspector Pitt begins to wonder what secrets they are trying to hide. Pitt’s wife and helpmeet, Charlotte, is determined to find out–even if it means tearing down the façades of an oh-so-proper family.

From the Back CoverTHE FILTHIEST OF CRIMES

The naked body of a teenage boy is found dead in the stinking sewers of Bluegate Fields. Enquiries prove that he was a sixteen-year-old aristocrat, that it was no ordinary drowning and that he showed unmistakable signs of syphilis. Not the best news for Inspector Thomas Pitt to bring to the parents, Lord and Lady Waybourne. Yet, surprisingly, they co-operate and a suspect is arrested – the boy's tutor.

However, Pitt is troubled by the tidiness of the case, feeling that when the upper classes close rank against inferiors, there is no such thing as 'innocent until proven guilty'. His quest for the truth uncovers child prostitution and deepest corruption. But only when his wife, the astute and aristocratic Charlotte, explores the case from a very different angle, can the shameful and sordid solution be brought to light…

"Her novels are sheer pleasure"WALL STREET JOURNAL

"Anne Perry can write a Victorian mystery that would make Dickens's eyes pop"NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

About the AuthorAnne Perry has established a reputation for murder mysteries of the highest quality. She was born in London and lived abroad before settling in her present home, Portmahomack in the Scottish Highlands. She is a full-time writer.