HALF MOON STREET, by Anne Perry; Ballantine Books; 312 pages. $25.
Poor Charlotte Pitt. Her family — her wealthy, staid, Victorian family — has already suffered more than its share. The murdered sister, the dissipated brother-in-law. And now, in Anne Perry's latest novel, "Half Moon Street," we learn something we would really rather not know about Charlotte's grandfather.
Luckily for Charlotte, she's in Paris for the duration of this book. How unfortunate for her mother, Caroline, to be left in London. When scandal threatens, Caroline's the one who has to tidy up and smooth over and make the family presentable.
She does, however, get to solve a mystery. While Charlotte's husband, police inspector Thomas Pitt, works the streets to solve a kinky murder, Caroline works the drawing rooms. This is just what Charlotte would have done had she been in town.
Once again, it is the clue obtained in high society, the clue Caroline dutifully passes on to Thomas, that solves the case. This is the way mysteries usually get solved in Perry's series.
But lest you think Perry is starting to rely on formula, a word of caution: "Half Moon Street" is different from her other mystery books. This novel is darker than Perry's previous work.
The plot centers around pornography, which is not really a departure. Perry often tackles a social issue with sexual overtones. But this time, there is also a distressing scene of sexual sadism.
On the other hand, if the plot is bleak, the drawing-room conversations have never been brighter. Peery presents us with a changing society and characters who are caught in the cross-winds.
The themes of the book are the same as in Perry's previous Pitt mystery. She is concerned with the roles of men and women. The faade of society in contrast to what lurks beneath. Repression vs. restraint vs. morality.
The conflicts all come together in the character of Caroline. In "Half Moon Street," we find her quite confused.
After her first husband died (that would be Charlotte's father), Caroline married a much younger man. He is also an actor, much more liberal than she. By marrying him, she flouted convention twice. Now, she finds herself surrounded by new people and new thoughts. She vacillates between defending her husband's ideas and being disturbed by them.
In "Half Moon Street," Perry gives us a Caroline who is complex. The character is both troubled and troubling.
And if Caroline is newly complicated, so is Perry. (Is she going someplace new with her writing? Is she becoming darker?) Her latest novel, while interesting, may be getting too graphic for some of her loyal readers.