In 1990 Perry began a second mystery series, detective novels that feature another Victorian crimefighter, the private investigator William Monk. Perry’s work is popular in her native England and around the world. Her books have sold more than 20 million copies. The author is showing few signs of slowing down.
Perry will visit Dayton for a couple of events this week.
Perry’s fans might consider her latest book to be a bit of a departure from the norm. “The Sheen on the Silk” is a stand-alone historical novel that takes place during the 13th century. Most of the action occurs in Constantinople, the center of what was then the Byzantine Empire in the area we now call Istanbul, Turkey.
Perry’s protagonist in this one is also rather unusual. Anna Zarides comes to Constantinople in the year 1273. She is searching for information about her twin brother, Justinian. She is trying to find out what happened to him. Justinian has been exiled from Byzantium for his involvement in a murder.
Anna disguises herself as an eunuch, Anastasius. She sets up a medical practice and in her guise as a male doctor she gains access to the nobility of the realm; wealthy merchants, the religious hierarchy and, ultimately, the emperor himself.
Over the course of a decade, Anna becomes deeply involved in the intrigues of the realm. In 1204 the city had been invaded and ransacked by the Crusaders. They ruined beautiful buildings and looted Byzantine wealth that included numerous sacred Christian relics.
A young child named Zoe was the horrified witness to that violence and destruction. And 70 years later Zoe is now the most powerful woman in the city. Anna becomes Zoe’s personal physician, and this relationship becomes the crucial plot development in the story.
Zoe’s lust for vengeance is boundless. She is an expert with poisons, and over the course of the novel she plots the downfall of the families that she believes have betrayed the city that she loves so dearly. Zoe is a magnificent piece of work.
She shares her philosophy with Anna: “Never trust someone who needs to be approved of. When things get hard, they’ll go with the winner, whatever they stand for. And don’t trust someone who needs to be praised. They’ll buy approval, regardless of the price.”
Perry escalates the tension in subtle ways as Anna worries her true identity will be exposed. A handsome diplomat from Venice cannot fathom his sense of attraction for this doctor he believes to be a eunuch. In Rome the pope plans another Crusade that will inevitably ruin Constantinople once again.
This all creates a deep sense of impending doom. There were some satisfying pyrotechnics at the end that left this reviewer grinning.
Contact book reviewer Vick Mickunas at vick@vickmickunas.com
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