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Home / Series / William Monk

Series

William Monk

The William Monk series follows a Victorian investigator who awakens after an accident without memory of his identity or previous conduct. Assisted by Crimean War nurse Hester Latterly and barrister Oliver Rathbone, Monk reconstructs his past while solving cases that expose violence within wealthy households, hospitals, courts, docks and the poorest districts of London.

Across twenty-four novels, Monk moves from the Metropolitan Police to private inquiry work and command of the Thames River Police. The series combines courtroom drama with medical and social history, addressing women’s rights, poverty, immigration, exploitation and the moral consequences of Victorian law.

Reading order

Books in this series (23 books)

A Dangerous Mourning cover

#2 – A Dangerous Mourning

Anne Perry

No breath of scandal has ever touched the aristocratic Moidore family. London's wealthiest and most influential can often be found taking tea or dining in the opulent family mansion of Sir Basil Moidore in Queen Anne Street. Now Sir Basil's beautiful widowed daughter has been stabbed…

Defend and Betray cover

#3 – Defend and Betray

Anne Perry

After a brilliant military career in India, General Thaddeus Carlyon finally meets death not in the frenzy of battle, but at a London dinner party, in what appears to be a freak accident. But the General's beautiful wife readily confesses that she killed him - a…

The Sins of the Wolf cover

#5 – The Sins of the Wolf

Anne Perry

When nurse Hester Latterly accompanies the elderly Mrs Mary Farraline on a short trip to London, her only medical duty is to ensure her charming patient takes her heart medicine. But Mrs Farraline dies during the night. When her missing brooch 'turns up' in Hester's possession…

Cain His Brother cover

#6 – Cain His Brother

Anne Perry

Genevieve Stonefield's husband Angus is missing when she seeks William Monk's help to find him. She is convinced that he has been murdered by his twin brother Caleb, a shadowy figure who lives in the slums bordering the Thames and has always hated his respectable businessman…

The Silent Cry cover

#8 – The Silent Cry

Anne Perry

In the dead of night in a notorious area of Victorian London's East End known as St Giles, a factory girl stumbles over the bloody bodies of two City gentlemen. When Detective John Evan finally arrives at the scene, he is confronted by a most difficult…

Whited Sepulchres cover

#9 – Whited Sepulchres

Anne Perry

Young Killian Melville is arguably the most brilliant architect of the age; passionate about his art, he is liked by everyone. So when he visits Sir Oliver Rathbone, in need of a lawyer to represent him over his alleged 'breach of promise' to marry the daughter…

The Twisted Root cover

#10 – The Twisted Root

Anne Perry

For Miriam Gardiner, at her engagement party at the London home of her fiancé, Lucius Stourbridge, it should have been one of the happiest days of her life. But, leaving suddenly, Miriam disappears without a trace. Reluctant to cause a scandal, Lucius seeks out William Monk…

Dark Assassin cover

#15 – Dark Assassin

Anne Perry

From a patrol boat near Waterloo Bridge, William Monk sees a young couple plunge into the Thames during an intense confrontation. The woman, Mary Havilland, had been investigating the supposed suicide of her father, an engineer connected with London’s new underground works, and Monk suspects that…

Acceptable Loss cover

#17 – Acceptable Loss

Anne Perry

In 1864, Monk and his wife Hester are doing their best to care for Scuff, a homeless boy recovering from a terrifying ordeal at the hands of Jericho Phillips, the runner of a child prostitution ring. Although Scuff's evil abductor is dead, there is no suggestion…

A Sunless Sea cover

#18 – A Sunless Sea

Anne Perry

Monk is appalled at the shocking mutilation visited upon the body of a woman found on Limehouse Pier. But when enquiries into the brutal killing unearth a connection between the victim and Dr Lambourn, a brilliant, recently deceased scientist and staunch supporter for a new pharmaceutical…

Blind Justice cover

#19 – Blind Justice

Anne Perry

Oliver Rathbone, William Monk's close friend, has presided brilliantly over his first cases as a judge. But the next will bring a far greater challenge. Abel Taft, a charismatic minister adored by his congregation, stands accused of terrible corruption and fraud which has ruined the lives…

Revenge in a Cold River cover

#22 – Revenge in a Cold River

Anne Perry

William Monk’s investigation of smuggling on the Thames is disrupted by customs officer McNab, who claims to know damaging details about Monk’s forgotten years in California. When a murder and a disputed cargo place Monk under suspicion, fragments of his past become evidence that others can…

An Echo of Murder cover

#23 – An Echo of Murder

Anne Perry

A Hungarian warehouse owner is found bayoneted in his office and surrounded by seventeen candles dipped in blood. The ritual appearance of the crime directs suspicion towards London’s immigrant communities and threatens to turn fear of foreigners into collective violence. Commander Monk and Hester investigate the…

Dark Tide Rising cover

#24 – Dark Tide Rising

Anne Perry

The Thames River Police accompany developer Harry Exeter to a derelict waterside district to exchange a ransom for his kidnapped wife. The operation becomes an ambush, leaving men dead and convincing Commander Monk that someone within his own force revealed the plan. Monk investigates the histories…