Anne Perrys seventeenth William Monk novel, now in paperback, is a mesmerizing masterpiece of innocence and evil on Londons docks, a welcome addition to this successful and beloved series. NATIONAL BESTSELLER On a London riverbank, when the body of small-time crook Mickey Parfitt washes up with the tide, no one grieves. But William Monk, commander of the River Police, is puzzled by the murder weapon an elegant scarf whose original owner was obviously a man of substance. Dockside informers lead Monk to a floating palace of corruption on the Thames managed by Parfitt, where a band of half-starved boys is held captive for men willing to pay a high price for midnight pleasures. Though Monk and his fearless wife, Hester, would gladly reward Parfitts killer, duty leads them in another direction—to an unresolved crime, to a deadly confrontation with some of the empires most respected men, and ultimately to a courtroom showdown with Monks old friend, Oliver Rathbone, in a trial of nearly unbearable tension and suspense.
