Long Spoon Lane, by Anne Perry

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I'm now reading yet another novel by Anne Perry. I love her Victorian novels not only because of the characters and story lines, but also the way she evokes the era.

Each of Perry's novels is called by the name of either a district of London or a street in London. In this one, Long Spoon Lane is the street on which an explosion occurs and begins Pitt's investigation of police corruption and anarchy.

It's another of Perry's strengths that she uses the political events of the times to add to the stories and the atmosphere of the books. In Victorian England, anarchy was a new and frightening force. Mostly made up of young people from poor backgrounds, who felt the only way out of poverty was to get rid of the existing order and replace it with something else --- of course it's the nature of anarchy not to really know what that something else is.

In Long Spoon Lane, she evokes the sense of panic people are feeling about this new and terrifying violence that seems to affect guily and innocent alike. Mix in a measure of corruption in police and government, which the intrepid Pitt must track down, and you have the makings of a great read. I'm enjoying it a lot.