William Monk 05 - The Sins of the Wolf

Praise for Anne Perry
and THE SINS OF THE WOLF
    “Give her a good murder and a shameful social evil, and Anne Perry can write a Victorian mystery that would make Dickens’s eyes pop.”
    —The New York Times Book Review
    “Perry combines murder with a profile of the morals and manners of Victorian society…. Murder fens who prefer their crimes with a touch of class should heat some scones and nestle back for the afternoon.”
    —Atlanta Journal & Constitution
    “Her best yet … Perry’s rich prose and splendidly authentic renderings of the dress, manners, dialogue, and customs of mid-nineteenth-century London, combined with a mesmerizing courtroom drama [and] a plot that’s filled with surprising twists and unexpected suspense.”
    —Booklist
    “Chilling … [An] intriguing insight into Victorian skulduggery.”
    —San Gabriel Valley Daily Tribune
    “Totally absorbing … [An] intense and gripping story.”
    —Mostly Murder
    “A taut, enthralling blend of courtroom thriller and complex, compelling whodunit.”
    —Mystery News
    “A courtroom battle of wits that rivals the works of Scott Turow and Patricia Cornwell … A most satisfying story of love, betrayal, dark deeds and justice. Rarely does one find such exceptional writing in a murder mystery.”
    —Baton Rouge Magazine
    “Anne Perry has made the Victorian era her own literary preserve…. Perry’s work is consistently top-notch.”
    —The San Diego Union
    “Perry’s Victorian-era mysteries are—and THE SINS OF THE WOLF is a fine example-perfect for a long evening in a cozy corner. They are rich in plotting and characterization.”
    —The Anniston Star
    “Anne Perry is my choice for today’s best mystery writer of Victoriana.”
    —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
    “Fans of Perry know she serves up her clues with generous dollops of Victorian manners and morals and there’s usually class, caste and kinky sex to keep the plot boiling. I don’t want to give it away, but rest assured, Perry doesn’t disappoint.”
    —The Toronto Globe & Mail
    “[Perry] is adept at showing the reader two sides of Victorian London—the dark side where people are barely surviving and glittering society where people sometimes kill to hide terrible secrets.”
    —The Knoxville News-Sentinel
    “Perry skillfully evokes the atmosphere of nineteenth-century London and its sharp social contrasts.”
    —Publishers Weekly

By Anne Perry
Published by The Random House Publishing Group:
    Featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt
    THE CATER STREET HANGMAN
    CALLANDER SQUARE
    PARAGON WALK
    RESURRECTION ROW
    BLUEGATE FIELDS
    RUTLAND PLACE
    DEATH IN THE DEVIL’S ACRE
    CARDINGTON CRESCENT
    SILENCE IN HANOVER CLOSE
    BETHLEHEM ROAD
    HIGHGATE RISE
    BELGRAVE SQUARE
    FARRIERS’ LANE
    THE HYDE PARK HEADSMAN
    TRAITORS GATE
    PENTECOST ALLEY
    ASHWORTH HALL
    BRUNSWICK GARDENS
    BEDFORD SQUARE
    HALF MOON STREET
    THE WHITECHAPEL CONSPIRACY
    SOUTHAMPTON ROW
    SEVEN DIALS
    LONG SPOON LANE
    BUCKINGHAM PALACE GARDENS
    Featuring William Monk
    THE FACE OF A STRANGER
    A DANGEROUS MOURNING
    DEFEND AND BETRAY
    A SUDDEN, FEARFUL DEATH
    THE SINS OF THE WOLF
    CAIN HIS BROTHER
    WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE
    THE SILENT CRY
    A BREACH OF PROMISE
    THE TWISTED ROOT
    SLAVES OF OBSESSION
    FUNERAL IN BLUE
    DEATH OF A STRANGER
    THE SHIFTING TIDE
    DARK ASSASSIN
    The World War I Novels
    NO GRAVES AS YET
    SHOULDER THE SKY
    ANGELS IN THE GLOOM
    AT SOME DISPUTED BARRICADE
    WE SHALL NOT SLEEP
    The Christmas Novels
    A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY
    A CHRISTMAS VISITOR
    A CHRISTMAS GUEST
    A CHRISTMAS SECRET
    A CHRISTMAS BEGINNING
    A CHRISTMAS GRACE



A Ballantine Book
Published by The Random House Publishing Group
Copyright © 1994 by Anne Perry
    All rights reserved.
    Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
    Ballantine and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
    www.ballantinebooks.com
    eISBN: 978-0-307-76779-0
    v3.1

To Kimberly Hovey
for her help and friendship

1
    H
ESTER LATTERLY SAT
upright in the train, staring out of the window at the wide, rolling countryside of the Scottish Lowlands.
    The early October sun rose through a haze above the horizon. It was a little after eight in the morning, and the stubble fields were still wreathed in mist, the great trees seeming to float rootless above it, their leaves only beginning to turn