Greetings, fellow Audiophiles! It’s time for a round up of the audiobooks I have enjoyed this week. And this has been an Anne Perry week!
William Monk, Book 1
The Face of a Stranger by Anne Perry, narrated by Davina Porter. Book one in the William Monk series, set in 1852.
Imagine waking up with a severe headache, only to see yourself in one of dozens of beds in a single large room. When a woman, whom you eventually deduce to be a nurse, comes up to you, you realize that you can’t recall a thing. Not your name. Not your profession. Not even if you have a romantic partner in life. Everything is a blank. But if you don’t start to remember things soon, you’re going to lose your job, whatever it may be, and end up in the workhouse. In 1852, that is known to be as terrible as a death sentence. Actually, maybe worse. Then you learn that you are a top-level detective, and you have to solve a brutal murder while you also race against the clock to solve the mystery of who you truly are.
This was one of the first audiobooks that I got to listen to in its unabridged entirety, back around 2000, and it hasn’t lost its depth or intrigue. Anne Perry immediately caught my attention with this creative premise, along with the very interesting details of life in Victorian England. One of the main characters has just returned from nursing in the Crimea with Florence Nightingale, so we learn about the conditions of the troops and medical facilities there as well. The audiobook contains several startling plot twists that add to the delight of listening to this audiobook.
William Monk, Book 2
A Dangerous Mourning by Anne Perry, narrated by Davina Porter. Book two in the William Monk series.
Detective William Monk gets called to the scene of a murder in which the widowed daughter of the wealthy Sir Basil Moidore is slashed to death in her bedroom in the middle of the night, with a few valuable personal items’ having gone missing. The family insists upon the assumption that the killer was a madman who climbed the trellis to kill the woman before escaping, but Monk is soon able to establish that no one came in or left the house by any of its entrances. This means the murderer must belong to the household. To gain a secret advantage, Monk gets Hester Latterly, a former army nurse who served in the Crimea, a position taking care of Sir Basil’s wife, who has been left prostrated by grief.
Each book in the William Monk series focuses on a different social issue, most of which take place in the Victorian setting of the books but have present-day applications to the lesson. This book focuses on issues of class and the double standard applied to upper vs. lower class.
William Monk, Book 3
Defend and Betray by Anne Perry, narrated by Davina Porter. Book three in the William Monk series.
The official summary says it best:
Ten people gather together for an elegant London dinner party. By the end of the party, only nine are alive. Sometime after dinner, General Thaddeus Carlyon is brutally murdered in the hallway. Who had the strength – and motive – to murder the distinguished military hero? Nurse Latterly and Inspector Monk find the answers in a nightmarish legacy of evil.
This audiobook takes fascinating twists and turns to explore the nature of evil and society’s culpability in abetting heinous crimes. It explores the nature of the double standard by which men are allowed different behavior from women, as well as upper class from lower class. There is much more social commentary, but to tell you about that would give away a key twist in the plot! Let’s just suffice it to say that this book effectively combines a powerful plot with strong criticism of the way socially distinguished men get treated by a different set of rules than women, children, and lower class men.
One gift that Perry exhibits in her use of social commentary is the way she never sacrifices any of her story to her effort to convey a message. Further, she does a good job of tying together issues from Victorian England with issues from contemporary Western society.
William Monk, Book 4
A Sudden, Fearful Death by Anne Perry, narrated by Davina Porter. Book four in the William Monk series.
Let’s begin with the pertinent parts of the official description:
Prudence Barrymore braved the horrors of war to nurse the wounded on the battlefronts of the Crimea. Shortly after she returned to England, she was strangled to death in a hospital. Inspector Monk is instantly convinced that her death was not a random act of violence, but a deliberately-plotted murder.
Who would murder the courageous young nurse? And why? With the help of Prudence’s friend, Nurse Hester Latterly, Inspector Monk works feverishly to find the answers. In an explosive courtroom confrontation, he will expose a cunning murderer, and a horrifying evil that threatens every woman in England.
In the wake of the death of Anne Perry, I’ve read numerous obituaries about the author, and A Sudden, Fearful Death often gets cited as one of Perry’s particularly notable early achievements. It combines the unique elements of an exciting plot, some explosive twists in the storyline, a couple of shocking courtroom scenes, and effective social commentary related directly to the plot of the book.
But let me issue a word of caution: Listen to (or read) the books in order! Otherwise, you will learn the biggest plot twists of the books that come before each one in the series.
Audiobook Performer: Davina Porter
No discussion of audiobooks would be complete without recognition of the performers who create this media. All four of this week’s entries were performed by Davina Porter, an AudioFile Golden Voice narrator who will be known to many Fangirl Nation readers as the voice of the Outlander series. She has won numerous audiobook awards, including two Audie Awards, throughout the course of her career.
Porter recorded the early William Monk audiobooks in the first half of the 1990s, an era before digital recordings that necessitated using reel to reel tapes. Because it was extremely difficult to make any sort of corrections, performers had to train themselves to get things right the first time. Most audiobooks recorded during the pre-digital era no longer exist, and it is even rarer to find such recordings offered on Audible. This exclusivity by itself makes such audiobooks special. However, coming from such a distinguished performer as Porter, the William Monk audiobooks have an extra degree of specialness.
Porter gives each character, no matter how minor, a distinct personality. She navigates the Victorian language with aplomb and makes listeners feel connected to the 1850s. Further, Porter makes listeners stay guessing and keeps the mystery in the audiobooks alive.
Wrap-Up of the Week
It has been fun revisiting the first four William Monk audiobooks. I will certainly continue on my journey through the world of Anne Perry, though I expect I’ll take a break for some lighter fare before resuming with The Sins of the Wolf.
Audiobook Musings: More Anne Perry
Greetings, fellow Audiophiles! It’s time for a round up of the audiobooks I have enjoyed this week. And this has been an Anne Perry week!
William Monk, Book 1
Imagine waking up with a severe headache, only to see yourself in one of dozens of beds in a single large room. When a woman, whom you eventually deduce to be a nurse, comes up to you, you realize that you can’t recall a thing. Not your name. Not your profession. Not even if you have a romantic partner in life. Everything is a blank. But if you don’t start to remember things soon, you’re going to lose your job, whatever it may be, and end up in the workhouse. In 1852, that is known to be as terrible as a death sentence. Actually, maybe worse. Then you learn that you are a top-level detective, and you have to solve a brutal murder while you also race against the clock to solve the mystery of who you truly are.
This was one of the first audiobooks that I got to listen to in its unabridged entirety, back around 2000, and it hasn’t lost its depth or intrigue. Anne Perry immediately caught my attention with this creative premise, along with the very interesting details of life in Victorian England. One of the main characters has just returned from nursing in the Crimea with Florence Nightingale, so we learn about the conditions of the troops and medical facilities there as well. The audiobook contains several startling plot twists that add to the delight of listening to this audiobook.
William Monk, Book 2
Detective William Monk gets called to the scene of a murder in which the widowed daughter of the wealthy Sir Basil Moidore is slashed to death in her bedroom in the middle of the night, with a few valuable personal items’ having gone missing. The family insists upon the assumption that the killer was a madman who climbed the trellis to kill the woman before escaping, but Monk is soon able to establish that no one came in or left the house by any of its entrances. This means the murderer must belong to the household. To gain a secret advantage, Monk gets Hester Latterly, a former army nurse who served in the Crimea, a position taking care of Sir Basil’s wife, who has been left prostrated by grief.
Each book in the William Monk series focuses on a different social issue, most of which take place in the Victorian setting of the books but have present-day applications to the lesson. This book focuses on issues of class and the double standard applied to upper vs. lower class.
William Monk, Book 3
The official summary says it best:
This audiobook takes fascinating twists and turns to explore the nature of evil and society’s culpability in abetting heinous crimes. It explores the nature of the double standard by which men are allowed different behavior from women, as well as upper class from lower class. There is much more social commentary, but to tell you about that would give away a key twist in the plot! Let’s just suffice it to say that this book effectively combines a powerful plot with strong criticism of the way socially distinguished men get treated by a different set of rules than women, children, and lower class men.
One gift that Perry exhibits in her use of social commentary is the way she never sacrifices any of her story to her effort to convey a message. Further, she does a good job of tying together issues from Victorian England with issues from contemporary Western society.
William Monk, Book 4
Let’s begin with the pertinent parts of the official description:
In the wake of the death of Anne Perry, I’ve read numerous obituaries about the author, and A Sudden, Fearful Death often gets cited as one of Perry’s particularly notable early achievements. It combines the unique elements of an exciting plot, some explosive twists in the storyline, a couple of shocking courtroom scenes, and effective social commentary related directly to the plot of the book.
But let me issue a word of caution: Listen to (or read) the books in order! Otherwise, you will learn the biggest plot twists of the books that come before each one in the series.
Audiobook Performer: Davina Porter
Porter recorded the early William Monk audiobooks in the first half of the 1990s, an era before digital recordings that necessitated using reel to reel tapes. Because it was extremely difficult to make any sort of corrections, performers had to train themselves to get things right the first time. Most audiobooks recorded during the pre-digital era no longer exist, and it is even rarer to find such recordings offered on Audible. This exclusivity by itself makes such audiobooks special. However, coming from such a distinguished performer as Porter, the William Monk audiobooks have an extra degree of specialness.
Porter gives each character, no matter how minor, a distinct personality. She navigates the Victorian language with aplomb and makes listeners feel connected to the 1850s. Further, Porter makes listeners stay guessing and keeps the mystery in the audiobooks alive.
Wrap-Up of the Week
It has been fun revisiting the first four William Monk audiobooks. I will certainly continue on my journey through the world of Anne Perry, though I expect I’ll take a break for some lighter fare before resuming with The Sins of the Wolf.
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