RESURRECTION ROW by Anne Perry

PUBLISHER: St. Martin's Press, 1981

GENRE: Historical Fiction/Mystery

SETTING: England, 1885/86

SERIES: Pitt #4

MY GRADE: B

SYNOPSIS: It is a most incredible sight: a corpse sitting at the reins of a hansom cab–and not just any corpse, but the body of a peer of the realm. To Inspector Thomas Pitt and his wife, Charlotte, this macabre apparition seems like sheer lunacy. Who would ever want to exhume a decently buried old chap like Lord Augustus Fitzroy-Hammond?

A doctor insists that Lord Augustus’s death was natural. But as far as the police are concerned, there’s certainly nothing natural about any of this gristly aftermath. Inspector Pitt is determined to unearth the truth–even if the digging puts his own life at perilous risk.

MY THOUGHTS: Very interesting synopsis and very macabre. Who wouldn't want to read this? I'm not satisfied with the ending or how abrupt it was, how it was solved in the last few pages. I had no clue as to who was behind any of the exhumed bodies so I give the author credit for not making it obvious, to me anyway. There were an awful lot of characters in such a short novel, over 19. I found Inspector Pitt to be somewhat dull, and his wife too. I really like aunt Vespasia's personality and she's my favorite character in the book. I was never bored with this book though I don't think it was well-written at all. The subject matter held my interest and made me want to keep reading.

I like how the cover of the edition I'm reviewing, Ballantine Books, 2009, uses a piece of art from 1896 called Naval and Military Club by Cecil Cutler. It definitely represents the scene in the book where the first dead body was found.

Thanks to Jason for giving this to me!