Another great story with many plot twists and interesting characters. And a continuation of William Monk’s challenges with his unknown past. He and Runcorn work together on the case of the two murders (Elissa Beck and Sarah Mackeson) and it helps to improve their long-standing rivalry. Monk travels to Vienna to investigate the past of Dr. and Mrs. Beck and learns a great deal. I liked the young man that serves as his interpreter in Vienna. Hester helps her brother Charles with his concerns over his wife Imogene’s behavior. ( )

A good read, found out more about Monk and Hester and his relationship with his old partner. You also learn about the prejudices that existed during this timeframe and the struggles of those that lived it. There are also those who bravely fought for freedom that we sometimes take for granted. There are many layers to this book besides the fight for freedom: murder, mystery, courtroom drama and love affairs. You cannot ask for much more. ( )

In the twelfth book in Anne Perry's Monk series, we find Monk and Hester investigating the murder of Dr. Kristian Beck's wife along with another woman. The two women are found in an artist studio with their necks broken. Monk works with his old nemesis Runcorn to find the murderer, building on the tentative accord they reached in the previous book.
Each book seems to be getting better and better. They all start a bit slow as Ms. Perry builds each case detail by detail. I had no idea until the last few pages who the real murderer was though it made perfect sense. I missed Oliver Rathborn (who's in Italy), but the rest of the cast of characters make appearances. Now I'm eager to see how Lady Callandra and Kristian go forward. And there's a good cliffhanger about the central mystery to the series: ( )

If not for William Monk and his wife Hester, Funeral in Blue would have been a total disappointment. I like these characters so much I will suffer through much, it seems. In Funeral in Blue, every single characters spends way too much time asking themselves questions, navel gazing and occasionally contradicting themselves. Perry pads the story with repetitions of the victim’s heroism and beauty. In fact, any time someone talks of the victim, her heroism and beauty is mentioned. It is exhausting and completely unnecessary. The entire book is repetitive – the victim’s beauty and heroism, the accused murderer’s sensual mouth and skill as a doctor, one woman’s unrequited love for the doctor, and Monk’s amnesia are all mentioned so often I started to wonder if Perry feared her readers suffered from Short Term Memory Loss.



Full Review: http://swampofboredom.com ( )

Kristian Beck, a doctor, loses his wife to murder. Everyone knows that Kristian is married, but no one has met his wife. Perry goes into the history of Kristian and Elissa Beck during the revolution in Austria in 1848. Perry also slips into the story the hatred and prejudice towards Jews. I thoroughly enjoy the glimpses of history, and the underlying currents of each period. Elissa Beck has fallen into the gambling pit, and has turned to an ex-lover to cover her losses. Krisian is arrested for the murder of his wife, but Sir Oliver Rathbone is away in Scotland and cannot defend Kristian. Kristian's father-in-law, Fuller Pendreigh, must defend him. The killer is a surprise, not who I expected. The cast of characters is impressive with the reappearance of Hester's brother and sister-in-law. ( )