I have been too dismissive of Anne Perry for too long -- "too prolific to be any good," I thought. Recently I have read the Daniel Pitt books and the first two Christmas novella. Now book 1 of Elena Standish. Hats off to Perry for starting two new series in her late 70s. I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Instead of establishing a wonderful premise and then hitting doldrums in the middle, the suspense kept ratcheting up well. Chapters alternate between the plucky heroine and the corridors of power, and at first I found that annoying, but by two-thirds of the way through I forgave it all. There was some sense, too, that Elena was simply being batted from mysterious man to mysterious man, rather than figuring some things out for herself, but eventually she also gets her moment to shine. In each of Perry's book's I've undertaken, I like the thoroughness and logic with which she approaches each bend in the case--generally without belaboring things. Not perfect, this book, but quite tense, and thoughtful, moving things to say about the rise of fascism and appeasement.

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