The Face of a Stranger

A William Monk Novel #1

By: Anne Perry

Narrated by: Davina Porter

In this exhilarating series debut, police detective William Monk must solve the mystery of his own past.

His name, they tell him, is William Monk, and he is a London police detective. But the accident that felled him has left him with only half a life; his memory and his entire past have vanished. As he tries to hide the truth, Monk returns to work and is assigned to investigate the brutal murder of a Crimean War hero and man about town. Which makes Monk’s efforts doubly difficult, since he’s forgotten his professional skills along with everything else.

“Richly textured with the sights and sounds of London and its countryside … Solidly absorbing and Perry’s best to date.”—Kirkus Reviews

©1990 Anne Perry (P)1995 Recorded Books

After hearing this I bought 4 more in the series

People always compare mysteries to Agatha Cristie but this book really did remind me of her style of mysteries. Gentle, thoughtful, interesting mysteries but set in Victorian London which contains plenty of seedy dirt to keep you interested. Imagine Hercule Poirot has amnesia and in discovering who he is he finds not only the talent and love of justice but also realizes he's been a complete ass and doesn't like it. (I bet Cristie would have wished she'd thought of this as she grew to find Poirot an intolerable ass) Thats Monk, the main character who must unravel his past as well as a high class mystery. In addition you get the charming, graceful and intelligent young Evan, Monk's idealistic assistant and the no nonsense, piercing wit of Hester, the frustraitting woman in Monk's life. Perry packs these novels with intensely likable characters who are intuitive and empathetic. I think because this book is establishing these characters, it has just a few parts where it runs long but I found it an entirely satisfying listen. This is a character driven, thoughtful mystery so if you want tons of explosions and sex, this is not the series for you. I love the addition of history to such lovely mysteries. (I just started #2 and it seems even better and a bit faster paced) Oh and this is the perfect medium for Davina Porter, who is an excellent narrator and I don't tend to like female narrators.

A slow start but worth persevering

I almost gave up because the story seemed quite slow moving and ponderous for the first half. However the characters grew on me and the second half proved quite fascinating both with insight into the period and some clever turns in the plot.

The narration was excellent which also helped me persevere through the early chapters.

I am pleased I persevered :)

No One Quite Like Anne Perry

If you could sum up The Face of a Stranger in three words, what would they be?

Character study + mystery --- but that really doesn't do justice to the book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Inspector Monk, of course. And I can see that he and Hester Latterly are going to be a great pair of sleuths in subsequent books.

Have you listened to any of Davina Porter’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I love Davina Porter. I don't think anyone can touch her narration of books set in the UK. When I see her name listed, I know I'm going to have a great read.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I almost did read the book in one sitting, but couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

Any additional comments?

I have never met an Anne Perry novel that I didn't like. I am in awe of her ability to portray a period in England as if she had lived it herself. She also has the ability to continue her series without losing the spark she created in the first. She is definitely an author who always guarantees a good book.

Absolutely marvellous!

Anne Perry takes you back in time with her to tell the story, and Davina Porter has a soft, expressive voice. I enjoyed this immensely.

Very gripping

This was quite hard to put down!
The mystery is very good, and the characters are excellent. Great setting in that time period, feels very genuine. Overall an excellent read.

The audiobook narrator was fantastic.