The Face of a Stranger cover art

The Face of a Stranger

A William Monk Novel #1

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The Face of a Stranger

By: Anne Perry
Narrated by: Davina Porter
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About this listen

In this exhilarating series debut, police detective William Monk must solve the mystery of his own past.

His name, they tell him, is William Monk, and he is a London police detective. But the accident that felled him has left him with only half a life; his memory and his entire past have vanished. As he tries to hide the truth, Monk returns to work and is assigned to investigate the brutal murder of a Crimean War hero and man about town. Which makes Monk’s efforts doubly difficult, since he’s forgotten his professional skills along with everything else.

“Richly textured with the sights and sounds of London and its countryside … Solidly absorbing and Perry’s best to date.”—Kirkus Reviews

©1990 Anne Perry (P)1995 Recorded Books Historical Mystery Police Procedural Thriller & Suspense Crime Fiction Murder

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All stars
Most relevant  
A thoroughly good listen. Good Victorian mystery with engaging characters. Several strands of story that flow through the series, yet the writer never gets bogged down in detail and keeps the reader keen to hear more. The narration is clear and the various characters are voiced well without being distracting. A gem of a book.

Excellent!

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Narrator was excellent. A long story, maybe too long , but well written and demonstrated the difference between the 'gentry' and normal folk in 19th century London.

Interesting plot

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A brilliantly scripted and spoken novel . The personalities and the feeling of the era really comes through it’s telling . Anne Perry really can wield a masterly story

Face of a stranger

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I have read all her books apart from the latest which I will do in the near future. Her characters are brought to life in a way which is easy to listen to/read. I love the way she writes as you get into the story straightaway and get to know all the characters, whether it's Thomas Pitt or William Monk. I've also read her short stories which are equally enjoyable. The hardest thing for me is to actually put the book down/stop the audible.

You can't go wrong with Anne Perry

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I have many audiobooks by this author. Been listening to her books for years. Even have some on tape! So I was very pleased to find one of hers in the Included section. So a free book. But now I know why. It is twelve hours long but should be six. She wonders off the story. Then as you are about to give up comes back. Not sure if an early one. But not one of her best. But very well read. This lady reads all her books very well

Too Long

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My first book by this author and it wont be my last.

The descriptions of living in Victorian times, the entitlement of the upper classes and the way they treated people of all classes that they saw as inferior to them, the unfairness of society, all very clear in this wonderful story which had a twist that became clear right at the end.

Interesting to hear how hanging was accepted and police were not respected.

Great book.

The sad and unfair differences between the classes in Victorian Britain highlighted so well.

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I had to increase the narration speed because at times this was maddeningly slow but the bones of the plot are good. Lots for a fan of Victorian crime fiction to enjoy if you can take the plodding pace of the story and relentless gloom of the protagonist.

A slow tale, meticulously read

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Well this was a lovely surprise. Well written, tight, taut dialog, cracking story extremely well delivered by Davina Porter - really hooked me and got me deeply into the characters and the plot. Just bought book 2 - Well worth a listen ...

Diamond find in the plus catalog

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A great find. Well read. Good detective story with the backdrop of an era I knew little about. Listened all the way through and not bored.

Thank you for putting in plus catalogue

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Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Possibly , you need a great deal of patience if you are not to give up before the end .

What did you like best about this story?

The idea was very good and the characterisation well drawn in the main .

What does Davina Porter bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Davina Porter has a very professional microphone technic , she avoids sounding like a gurgling drain whenever she has to swallow , unlike a lot of narrators .

If this book were a film would you go see it?

Yes

Any additional comments?

This is not five star for me because it's too long , it's dragged out and soooo slow , the number of times the phrase " if only I could remember " is used is beyond counting , it's like toiling through treacle a lot of the time , needed better editing .

Turgid .

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