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I occasionally encounter a mystery fan who has never read a book by Anne Perry. This surprises me. It doesn't happen often, but it certainly occurs more than it should. She has had two different series of historical mysteries going: the first being the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, which were first introduced in 1979, and the second being the somewhat darker William Monk volumes. Perry began a third series last year, and it's the one that has somewhat become my early favorite. I don't think they have a proper name as yet, but I'm calling them, for our purposes here, the Reavley books. The first was NO GRAVES AS YET, and this new one is SHOULDER THE SKY. If you're a fan of traditional mysteries, you need to read these novels, particularly the latter.
SHOULDER THE SKY is set against the backdrop of World War I, as was NO GRAVES AS YET. But if you didn't read NO GRAVES AS YET, it won't impede your enjoyment of her latest, as Perry does an excellent job of bringing new readers up to date within her opening chapters --- and does it without impeding her new storyline. The time is April 1915, and England is heavily involved in what would come to be known as World War I. Joseph Reavley is an Army chaplain, on the front line in Flanders, and is heavily involved in giving such spiritual comfort as he may to the dying and wounded among the British troops.
A note here. Perry's descriptions of warfare are accurate and accordingly are horrific, though not gratuitously so. One can almost smell the smoke, see the fire, and hear the screams of the wounded in the midst of Perry's description. That, by any reasonable definition, is fine writing.
An arrogant, insensitive war correspondent named Eldon Prentice interjects himself into the scene, and soon earns the animosity of virtually every soldier he encounters. When Prentice is found dead on the front lines, the reaction of one and all is good riddance. It becomes clear to Reavley, however, that Prentice is not a casualty of war but was the victim of a deliberate act of murder. Reavley accordingly takes it upon himself to investigate the matter, a task that is less than thankless in the wartime environment in which he finds himself. Reavley's sister Judith, meanwhile, is the driver for General Cullingford, commanding officer of the troops and, interestingly enough, Prentice's uncle by marriage. There was no love lost, however, between Cullingford and Prentice, and Prentice was using his uncle's unexpressed feelings for Judith as leverage for preferential treatment in the journal pool. Judith has her own ideas as to who was behind Prentice's murder.
It is Perry's practice in her other series to have each novel deal with an individual mystery that is ultimately resolved within the book, while also dealing with a much larger ongoing issue that connects the individual volumes in serial volumes. She appears to be continuing this practice in the Reavley novels. The Prentice murder is ultimately solved. The mystery of the man known as The Peacemaker, introduced in NO GRAVES AS YET, deepens within SHOULDER THE SKY. Matthew Reavley, brother to Joseph and Judith, continues in his role as a British intelligence officer to determine the identity of this mysterious figure, who seeks to unite the warring German and British nations into a common front that will then divide the other nations of the world between them. This is also a personal matter for Matthew, as The Peacemaker is responsible for the murders of the Reavleys' mother and father. It appears as if The Peacemaker is going to succeed in his reprehensible plot. Matthew, however, finds that the odds against him are balanced somewhat by assistance from an unexpected source.
Perry's writing has never been better than it is in SHOULDER THE SKY. Readers hesitant to pursue one of Perry's other series due to the size of her considerable bibliography should jump onto the Reavley series now while it is easily manageable. Read one, and you'll be hooked for good. Highly recommended.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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