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A Breach of Promise: A William Monk Novel Paperback – October 4, 2011

by Anne Perry (Author)

4.5 1,247 ratings

Book 9 of 24: William Monk

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In a sensational breach-of-promise suit, two wealthy social climbers are suing on behalf of their beautiful daughter, Zillah. The defendant is Zillah’s alleged fiancé, brilliant young architect Killian Melville, who adamantly declares that he will not, cannot, marry her. Utterly baffled by his client’s refusal, Melville’s counsel, Sir Oliver Rathbone, turns to his old comrades in crime—William Monk and nurse Hester Latterly. But even as they scout London for clues, the case suddenly and tragically ends, in an outcome that no one—except a ruthless murderer—could have foreseen.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Captivating . . . one of Perry’s most engrossing puzzlers.”—People

“Anne Perry, hailed as the queen of the Victorian mystery, shows why with A Breach of Promise.”—San Diego Union-Tribune

“No one weaves plot and subplots as seamlessly as Perry. . . . Fans will be delighted by the long-awaited romantic denouement, which brought tears to my eyes.”—Los Angeles Times

“The story is full of feeling and weighted with intelligent thought about the status of women in mid-Victorian society.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Scenes of Victorian England so rich in detail that they seem more a product of Perry’s memory than her prodigious research.”—The Denver Post

About the Author

Anne Perry was the bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the William Monk novels and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels. She was also the author of a series featuring Charlotte and Thomas Pitt's son, Daniel, as well as the Elena Standish series; a series of five World War I novels; twenty-one holiday novels; and a historical novel, The Sheen on the Silk, set in the Byzantine Empire. Anne Perry died in 2023.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

OLIVER RATHBONE LEANED BACK in his chair and let out a sigh of satisfaction. He had just successfully completed a long and tedious case. He had won most substantial damages for his client over a wrongful accusation. The man’s name was completely cleared and he was grateful. He had told Rathbone that he was brilliant, and Rathbone had accepted the compliment with grace and appropriate humility, brushing it aside as more a courtesy than truth. But he had worked very hard and had exercised excellent judgment. He had once again used the skills which had made him one of the finest barristers in London, if not in England.

He found himself smiling in anticipation of a most pleasant evening at Lady Hardesty’s ball. Miss Annabelle Hardesty had been presented to the Queen, and had even earned an agreeable comment from Prince Albert. She was launched upon society. It was an evening in which all manner of victories might be celebrated. It would be a charming affair.

There was a knock on the door, interrupting his reverie.

“Yes?” He sat up straight. He was not expecting anyone. He had rather thought he would go home early, perhaps take a short walk in the park and enjoy the late-spring air, see the chestnuts coming into bloom.

The door opened and Simms, his chief clerk, looked in.

“What is it?” Rathbone asked with a frown.

“A young gentleman to see you, Sir Oliver,” Simms replied very seriously. “He has no appointment, but seems extremely worried.” His brow puckered with concern and he looked at Rathbone intently. “He’s quite a young gentleman, sir, and although he’s doing his best to hide it, I think he is more than a little afraid.”

“Then I suppose you had better ask him to come in,” Rathbone conceded, more from his regard for Simms than conviction that the young man’s difficulty was one he could solve.

“Thank you, sir.” Simms bowed very slightly and withdrew.

The moment after, the door swung wide again and the young man stood in the entrance. He was, as Simms had said, deeply troubled. He was not tall—perhaps an inch less than Rathbone himself—although his slender build and the squareness of his shoulders gave him an extra appearance of height. He had very fair skin and fine, regular features. Strength was given to his face by the width of his jaw and the level, unflinching gaze with which he met Rathbone’s eyes. It was difficult to place his age, as it can be with those of a very fair complexion, but he could not have been far on either side of thirty

Rathbone rose to his feet.

“Good afternoon, sir. Come in, and tell me in what way I may be of service to you.”

“Good afternoon, Sir Oliver.” The young man closed the door behind him and advanced towards the chair in front of Rathbone’s desk. He was breathing very steadily, as if it were a deliberate effort, and when he was closer it was possible to see that his shoulders were tense, his body almost rigid.

“My name is Killian Melville,” he began slowly, watching Rathbone’s face. “I am an architect.” He said it with great meaning; his light voice almost caressed the word. He hesitated, still staring at Rathbone. “I am afraid that I am about to be sued for breach of promise.”

“Promise to do what?” Rathbone asked, although he was all but certain he knew. That particular phrase held one meaning above all others.

Melville swallowed. “To marry Miss Zillah Lambert, the daughter of my patron, Mr. Barton Lambert.” He obviously found difficulty even in saying the words. There was a kind of despair in his face.

“Please sit down, Mr. Melville.” Rathbone indicated the chair opposite him. “By all means tell me the details, but I think it is quite possible I may be unable to help you.” Already his instinctive liking for the young man was waning. He had little sympathy for people who flirted and made promises they did not intend to keep, or who sought to improve their social and financial situations by using the affections of a woman whose position might be an advantage to them. They deserved the blame and the misfortune which followed.

Melville sat down, but the bleakness of his expression made it apparent he had heard the disapproval in Rathbone’s voice and understood it only too well.

“I had no intention of hurting Miss Lambert,” he began awkwardly. “Of causing injury either to her feelings or to her reputation….”

“Is her reputation in question?” Rathbone asked rather coolly.

Melville flushed, a wave of color rising up his fair cheeks.

“No it is not, not in the way you mean!” he said hotly. “But if a … if a man breaks off an engagement to marry—or seems to—then people will raise questions as to the lady’s morals. They will wonder if he has learned something of her which is … which has changed his mind.”

“And have you?” Rathbone asked. That at least could prove some excuse, both ethically and in law, if it could be proved.

“No!” Melville’s reply was unhesitating. “As far as I know she is blameless.”

“Is the matter financial?” Rathbone pursued the next most likely problem. Perhaps Melville required a wife of larger fortune. Although if her father was able to be a patron to architects, then he must be of very considerable wealth. A social disadvantage seemed more likely. Or possibly Melville could not afford to keep her in the manner which she would expect.

Melville stiffened. “Certainly not!”

“You would not be the first young man not in a financial position to marry,” Rathbone said a little more gently, leaning back in his chair and regarding the young man opposite him. “It is a common enough state. Did you perhaps mislead Mr. Lambert about your prospects, albeit unintentionally?”

Melville let out his breath in a sigh. “No. No, I was very candid with him.” The shadow of a smile crossed his face, an unexpected light of humor in it, rueful and self-mocking. “Not that there would have been any point in doing any less. Mr. Lambert is largely responsible for my success. He would be in a better position to estimate my financial future than my banker or my broker would.”

“Have you some other encumbrance, Mr. Melville? A previously incurred relationship, some reason why you are not free to marry?”

Melville’s voice was very quiet. “No. I …” He looked away from Rathbone, for the first time avoiding his eyes. “I simply cannot bear to! I like Zillah … Miss Lambert. I regard her as a good and charming friend, but I do not wish to marry her!” He looked up again quickly, this time meeting Rathbone’s eyes, and his voice was urgent. “It all happened around me … without my even being sensible to what was occurring. That may sound absurd to you, but believe me, it is true. I took it to be a most pleasant acquaintance.” His eyes softened. “A mutual interest in art and music and other pleasures of the mind, discussion, appreciation of the beauties of nature and of thought … I—I found her a most delightful friend … gentle, modest, intelligent …” Suddenly the desperation was back in his face. “I discovered to my horror that Zillah’s mother had completely misunderstood. She had read it as a declaration of love, and before I knew where I was, she had begun to make arrangements for a wedding!”

He was sitting upright in the chair opposite Rathbone, his back straight, his hands strong and square, the nails very short, as if now and then he bit them. He clasped the chair arms as if he could not let them go.

“I tried to explain that that was not what I had meant,” he went on, biting his lips as he spoke. “But how do you do that without appearing grossly hurtful, offensive? How do I say that I do not feel that kind of emotion for her without insulting her and wounding her feelings unforgivably?” His voice rose. “And yet I never said anything, so far as I can recall, that sounded like … that was intended to mean … I have racked my brain, Sir Oliver, until I now no longer have any clear recollection of what I did say. I only know that announcements have been made in the Times, and the date is set, and I had no say in the matter at all.” His face was pale, except for two spots of color in his cheeks. “It has all happened as if I were a prop in the center of some stage around whom the whole dance revolves, and yet I can do nothing at all to affect it. And suddenly the music is going to stop, and they are all going to wait for me to play my part and make everyone happy. I can’t do it!” He was filled with quiet despair, like a trapped creature who can no longer fight and has nowhere to run.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ballantine Books (October 4, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0345523741
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0345523747
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.8 x 8.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,023,239 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7,289 in Traditional Detective Mysteries (Books)
- #10,058 in Historical Mystery
- #43,322 in Suspense Thrillers

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4.5 1,247 ratings

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Anne Perry

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Anne Perry is the bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the William Monk novels, including Dark Assassin and The Shifting Tide, and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, including The Cater Street Hangman, Calandar Square, Buckingham Palace Gardens and Long Spoon Lane. She is also the author of the World War I novels No Graves As Yet, Shoulder the Sky, Angels in the Gloom, At Some Disputed Barricade, and We Shall Not Sleep, as well as six holiday novels, most recently A Christmas Grace. Anne Perry lives in Scotland.

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David Kloth

A compelling story of intertwining lives and story lines set in Victorian London.

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2022

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"A Breach of Promise" is the ninth book in Anne Perry's Monk series of novels. I'm reading them in order, as I did with her Thomas and Charlotte Pitt novels. I love them all.

Like the Thomas Pitt novels, the Monk stories are historical novels set in bygone days in London. While the Pitt stories are set in the very late Victorian Era, around end of the 19th Century and the very early 20th Century, William Monk operates in the 1850s and 1860s. "A Breach of Promise" is set in 1860 London and the surrounding era.

Like Pitt, Monk had been a successful police detective who was much underappreciated by his superiors. Unlike Pitt, who moves from the Metropolitan Police (the Peelers or Bobbies, so named for the man who founded the organization, Sir Robert Peel) to Special Branch, Monk gets thrown off the force completely. Or did he quit? It was a fifty-fifty proposition, as Monk's police superior was in the process of firing him for insubordination as Monk was in the process of resigning. All of that happened in one of the previous stories.

Now, Monk is an independent Private Enquiry Agent, engaged by his sometime employer, Sir Oliver Rathbone, who is one of London's top barristers. This time Rathbone, against his better judgement, has accepted a civil case defending a young man who fears he will soon be sued for Breach of Promise. Sir Oliver calls on Monk for his investigative support, who invariably calls on his good friend and sometimes quarreling partner, nurse Hester Latterly, for her moral support and advice.

Rathbone's client offers very little in his own defense, except to say that he had made no promise, and had never made an offer of marriage. Everything else is up to Rathbone and Monk, with Latterly's help and encouragement.

What unfolds is a complex story of intertwining plotlines, involving issues of love, marriage, women's rights in Victorian England. Before Perry is through with us, she's connected a lot of dots and a lot of her characters' intertwining lives.

As is the case with each of Anne Perry's stories, she moves the characters forward in their own story lines, as she expertly pulls us into the lives of her characters. I have no idea how accurate the settings and characterizations are to the period in which they're set, but Perry makes it feel right--makes us feel as if we're there. She's a master at dialog and using language to help define her characters and their relative places in society.

If you enjoy historic novels, especially if you love them set in and around Victorian England, you should not miss the Anne Perry novels. I cannot recommend them to you more strongly. A Breach of Promise is a great story, exceedingly well told.

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pollymom

Too much left untold! Wound up without the final details...

Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2023

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In some books MS Perry is very repetitive...would really rather not read about any more white knuckles, waiting one half hour, penetrating eyes, and many more repetitive phrases. Also many of her books are just wound up at the end without telling "the rest of the story...this one particularly felt rushed, incomplete, so much left to tell...she often refers back to previous novels In her novels and one is compelled to attempt to read them in order though in some instances they can be read as stand alone novels. I think this one falls into the stand alone category if you have not read the previous books you can still get the gist of what is happening without dwelling in the past.
I do love the main characters though in this book she may have rushed the denouement a bit ...I could have delighted in the ending being a bit fuller and longer lasting than the rapid ending that dis not actually finish the story at hand!
Moving on to the next book...this is getting expensive for an old gal...and onward...may just read this next one and then move on to the last couple...need more relationship news about Monk and Hester and Oliver and a good woman and Calendra and someone?
Who knows...I soldier on...

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Laura E.

One of the best in the series

Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2015

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SPOILER ALERT: Do not read any further in this review if you are reading the series in chronological order and you haven't finished this particular book.

This one started out quite slowly and I certainly didn't expect it to rate 5 stars. The continual talk about architecture was a snooze fest, especially since Ms. Perry kept repeating the same two or three descriptive phrases over and over. And the idea she tosses out that just because someone is brilliant creatively then they can't be a bad person is ludicrous. Once the trial starts, however, and Monk gets involved, the pace of the story picks up. The shocking revelation during the trial was exactly that. Shocking. I certainly never suspected the truth about Melville's identity. Well done, Ms. Perry.

On the personal side, Monk's passionate defense of Hester to Perdita and his proclamation of his feelings brought tears to my eyes. Finally! Thank heavens, he didn't retract simply because of embarrassment as he was tempted.

About the case of Melville's poisoning. As soon as Monk talked to the courthouse guard, I knew how Keelin had been killed and by whom. Right away he should have thought to ask Hester how the poison might be administered without eating or drinking. She certainly has the proper knowledge. Later on, he is actually the one who figured it out.

Did not see the ending coming. I expected Monk to express his love for Hester, not to propose. YES! Of course, leave it to Monk to propose in a graveyard. I can't wait to read of the new depths to their relationship and their feelings for each other.

In my excitement over the engagement, I nearly forgot to add the list of interesting names and there were plenty in this book! Zillah. Perdita. Phemie. Athol (sounds like a gasoline). Wystan. Keelin (which is actually quite pretty, but I do like Irish names).

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susan

ANNE PERRY

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2023

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I love her books. Always enjoy the characters and the storyline.

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T. Wells

Just brilliant!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 9, 2023

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Anne Perry is one of the greatest modern writers of detective novels I have ever read. Her descriptions, plot lines, characterisations and background detailing are consistently excellent, and this particular novel is, to me, one of her best. Very highly recommended.

JJ

Exhilarating

Reviewed in Canada on January 1, 2020

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The author has the profound ability to keep the reader thinking they have the story figured out but then twists and turns occur to the very end, and then leave you wanting to read more of William and Hester's lives.

Anita Slade

Whited Sepulchres (William Monk Mystery, Book 9)

Reviewed in Brazil on January 18, 2019

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A história se arrasta um pouco, mas a partir de determinado ponto é muito surpreendente e interessante. Anne Perry sempre vale a pena.

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éclectique

émouvant

Reviewed in France on February 9, 2020

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chaque roman de Anne Perry nous fait découvrir un nouvel aspect des moeurs à Londres au milieu du XIX° siècle. Ici ce sont également les dessous de ce qui est ou non considéré comme admissible. Sans dévoiler le contenu et surtout le dénouement de cette intrigue, j'admets avoir été écoeurée par l'hypocrisie qui sévissait à l'époque, le dédain à l'égard des femmes et cette obligation de vivre de manière conventionnelle à défaut d'être ostracisé. Hormis les répétitions concernant l'amnésie de William Monk et le passé d'Hester en qualité d'infirmière, j'ai adoré l'intrigue

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Red Witch

Ein Roman zwei Titel

Reviewed in Germany on September 8, 2017

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Das Buch kam pünktlich allerdings stellte sich heraus, daß ich es unter einem anderen Titel bereits hatte ( White sepulchres) .Ich behalte es trotzdem, da ich es an einen anderen Anne Perry Fan verschenken werde. Vielleicht gibt es die Möglichkeit, die potentiellen Käufer auf die weiteren Titel hinzuweisen, vorausgesetzt man kennt sie. Das hat jetzt aber nichts mit dem Verkäufer zu tun, an dessen Service ich nichts auszusetzen habe.

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