Charlotte and Thomas Pitt (9) - Silence in Hannover Close by Anne Perry
And the next part of the series: Silence in Hannover Close (in German Die Frau in Kirschrot). I read it in German where it contained 380 pages. Originally published in 1988.
Pitt has problems. When a member of the highest diplomatic sphere is about to marry, the case of the murder of her late husband is revived. But as soon as Pitt talks to a maid who mentions a mysterious "Lady in Cerise", she dies. What secret does the rich and highly valued family hide? Pitt wants to find out, just as much as his wife Charlotte and her sister, Emily. But everything comes to the boil when Emily sneaks with Jack Radley's help in the household as a maid and someone lays the blame of a murder on Pitt...
I liked it, especially the parts in Emily's view. It's really cool how she steps down from high lady to maid! You actually notice what it means to be that - a lady's maid. How much and what you have to do, and how bad Emily copes with it. The staff is interesting, too. The other lady's maid, the cook, etc.
I'm sorry for Charlotte, for how the people treat her. I mean, it's well done, of course; and realistic. But I'm sorry for her and Gracie. And Charlotte's reaction itself is good, too, how she discovers in herself how unethical she can be.
I like how Jack turns out and his relationship with Emily. As well as what really stands at the bottom of this crime. It's nice a murderer actually is humane, here. The Lady in Cerise herself is a little... well, I don't know. If you think of this age, this wouldn't leap to mind. But it makes sense, of course. I wonder how the men reacted to the Lady in Cherie, if they saw whom they really found attractive...
But what doesn't make sense: If the two ladies in the house dislike the other so intensely, why does Veronica stay with her mother-in-law? She doesn't have to, she could live at her parents'. Or at other members of the family.
Stars for the drastic change from lady to maid and the way it was described as well as style, characters, content and ideas. Minus one for the home-sharing.