Pretty good Thomas Pitt mystery dealing with government spies & African relations.

Alguien en la Oficina Colonial está pasando información a Alemania sobre la estrategia africana de Inglaterra. El superintendente de policía Thomas Pitt está a cargo de investigar esta traición, pero su mente está en la repentina y trágica muerte de su mentor de la infancia, Sir Arthur Desmond.

En 1890, l’Angleterre rivalise avec l’Allemagne face à la colonisation de l’Afrique et espère en obtenir l’est, du Caire au Cap, pour ramener or et diamants. Cela justifie-t-il les assassinats commis dans la haute société londonienne ? Une histoire policière qui nous emmène avec succès de bals en ministères et de sociétés secrètes en clubs sélects. ( )

If you are looking for a typical whodunit this is not for you. Solving the puzzle is only a mechanism for allowing Perry to examine the primary theme of the story, betrayal. It shows up in all of the deaths as a justification for the perpetrators' actions. It is even, indirectly, a topic in the larger issue of English colonization and imperialism in central Africa. The first murder is motivated by an attempt to silence and discredit a critic of the greed of a secret cabal of financial backers of Cecil Rhodes' military exploits. Arthur Desmond, Pitt's childhood benefactor denounces the aristocratic "Inner Circle" for their betrayal of the ideals of the earlier generation of explorers, men such as Livingstone and Stanley. But he, himself, is seen by the Inner Circle as a betrayer to his class. So he is murdered. This sets the whole chain of events in motion, with the final murder taking place, in an unusual twist, on the last pages of the book. There is no lack of intrigue nor of historical detail in this novel. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the broad scope of British involvement in Africa, and a good mystery as well. ( )

I love mysteries, and I love historical fiction, but somehow Anne Perry just doesn't bring the two together well enough for me. I'm not a fan. ( )