Death with a Double Edge is the fourth installment in the Daniel Pitt series by bestselling historical novelist, Anne Perry. Because his card is in the pocket of a coat found on a body that has been slashed to death in a seedy part of London, Daniel is taken to the morgue to make an identification. Fortunately, it isn’t his friend, the owner of the coat, but unfortunately it is the body of Jonah Drake, a powerful lawyer at Daniel’s firm; Drake is well known for winning cases, and while looking into Drake’s recent cases, Daniel and his boss, Marcus, believe it may be related to a case where a high-end call girl was murdered and the son of a wealthy shipbuilder was tried and found not guilty of her murder. Daniel brings his father, Thomas Pitt, head of Special Branch, into the investigation and they are both warned to stay away from looking into the wealthy shipbuilder because it would be a huge political problem; apparently politics hasn’t changed in the hundred or so years since this story took place. As Daniel discovers clues, and works on this case with his law partner, he puts the entire firm in danger, and skirts on the edge of involving the shipbuilder.

As usual Perry’s research is spot on and her stories ring true. Her historical novels are well-written and readers will feel that they are actually living during the time period. Perry is a master of excellent characterization when it comes to the main individuals in her novels, and she brings them out as believable real people. This new series, a take-off from the bestselling Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series (Daniel’s parents), is fascinating and highly recommended. Readers who haven’t read the previous series should pick them up. Not only are they great books, but very educational. Death with a Double Edge is a great read.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I am sending a review of this book to the mystery magazine, Kings River Life. Will let you know when it posts
My review is very favorable. Nuanced intricate plotting, pacing keeps us on edge at all times--well done.
I think this is one of the best Perry has written. Definitely five stars.

This is a character driven book. I reviewed a free copy on Kindle for Netgalley.. . This author doesn’t disappoint... intrigue... mystery...foreshadowing...who did it? Kept me guessing almost to the end. A quick read for a snowy afternoon. Try it.

I have been a fan of Anne Perry's books for years and I have to say Daniel Pitt may be my favorite of all her series! Death with a Double Edge is an excellent book with one of Daniel's colleagues being murdered and he is assigned the task of finding out if it is a previous case that led to the death. There are several challenges including Marcus fford Croft as his memory is failing him, the involvement of Daniel's father, Special Branch head Thomas Pitt, and a threat to his mother, Charlotte. The plot is so well done and the involvement of the elder Pitts is a bonus. Daniel's education and growth throughout the books is interesting and I look forward to see what his next adventure is. Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of #DeathwithaDoubleEdge.

This new entry in Anne Perry's series featuring Daniel Pitt also involves his parents, Thomas and Charlotte, with whom long-time readers of her work will be familiar. While I devoured the previous books featuring his parents, this and its predecessors that focus on Daniel are not nearly as compelling. Perry has not yet really developed Daniel's character and he reads less like an adult and more like a caricature of a young lawyer who runs home to his parents when trouble knocks on the chamber's doors. It's time for young Pitt to become his own man and for Perry to enhance his presence by surrounding him with some interesting new characters and giving him confounding mysteries to solve on his own. Death with a Double Edge starts out slowly, sometimes even going over the same ground. But once it gets going, the action continues until nearly the end, with the "big reveal" coming just a tad too early to hold one's interest until the story ends. Regrettably, the only way our of some of the story's situations calls for actions that are just too coincidental and much too unlikely. Nonetheless, Perry gives the reader a good yarn and those who are not yet tired of either series will find some reward in Death With a Double Edge.

Death with a Double Edge by Anne Perry

This was my maiden voyage in reading a novel written by the author Anne Perry, and my first thought after completing the story was, why haven’t I been reading more from her before now? I have a whole lot to make up for.

I would like to first thank NetGalley and Ballantine Books (Random House Publishing Group) for the advanced copy of this book. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.
Now onto the book.

Synopsis

Daniel Pitt’s investigation into his colleague’s murder leads him through London’s teeming underbelly to the suspicious dealings of one of England’s most influential shipbuilding magnates in a thrilling novel from New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry

Review

Death with a Double Edge is the fourth installment of the Daniel Pitt series.
The story takes place in the early 1900’s London, when a constable arrives at Daniel Pitt’s law firm in order to ask him to identify a body that was found in a not so nice part of London. The victim had a business card that belonged to Pitt in his coat pocket. He reluctantly goes along with the constable, the whole while he was hoping it wasn’t his partner Kitteridge.
Upon arrival at the morgue, Daniel spots Kitteridge coat hanging in the room where the corpse was lying. He is dreading to see whether the corpse was his partner, but instead when the sheet is lifted to reveal the face of the victim it was a senior member of the chamber Jonah Drake and not Kitteridge.
Now, Daniel Pitt must investigate with help from his parents Charlotte and Thomas Pitt (main characters from the previous Anne Perry novels), fellow colleagues and friends from the past to get to the bottom as to why Drake was killed.
The investigation leads to much larger problems and people in high places are involved. The details in the book are written crystal clear and the book is a real page turner, uncomplicated to read. At times the story does become a bit monotonous and seems like the story is going around in circles, but it does pick up steam towards the end.
Also, I was not able to pick up on a vibe or quirky personality traits of the main character, Daniel Pitt. Maybe his temperament is described in previous installments of this series, but for me it just felt like a enter character name here kind of vibe, so I never grew any attachment to the main character of the story. The ending was a bit predictable, but I did enjoy the imagery along the way the author expresses.

304 pages

5 stars

Anne Perry has another winner on her hands. I really like this new Daniel Pitt series, and we still get to drop in on Thomas and Charlotte.

Daniel gets the decidedly unenviable task of identifying a body at the morgue. He is startled to learn that it is a colleague of his from the law chambers.

Daniel and colleague and friend Kitteridge decide to look into the murder. What they discover is layers of murder, blackmail, corruption and kidnapping.

This book is very well written and plotted as are all of Ms. Perry's novels. The transitions are smooth and flawless. The pacing is very good as the pages fly by. This can easily be a standalone book. It has interesting information about the major characters, but not so much that it intrudes on the story line. Very well done, Ms. Perry. I have been a fan for years and will continue to be one.

I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine/Ballantine for forwarding to me a copy of this most remarkable book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions here are my own.

I have really enjoyed the other books in this historical mystery series and this book was a great addition. This book can be read as a stand-alone, though previous books will give more insights into the characters. This was a well-written mystery.