I am in the process of reading Perry's Monk books in order. All have been excellent, however, the climax of Sins of the Wolf was so surprising and exciting, it has won the title of best in series (so far). The last 30 pages will leave you amazed.

I never bought this book so cannot give you a review on it.I'm sure it is a good book because all Anne Perry books are excellent.I will order it some time.

Nurse Hester Latterly is engaged to escort Mrs. Farraline, an elder lady from Edinburg to London. But the journey takes a lethal course: Next morning the lady is dead, an extra portion of her medicine (digitalis) missing, and an expensive brooch is found in Hester's bag. She was obviously framed up by a member of Mrs. Farraline's family - heirs to her estate. Ex-inspector William Monk and star-attorney Oliver Rathbone rush to Hester's defense. But the Farralines, an old-established family, are such a model of honorableness...Sins of the wolf (depravity, deception, treachery) is first-rate reading and there is a surprise ending: you will be amused to learn the origin of the Farradine's wealth - but I won't reveal more. Anne Perry's victorian thrillers are excellent, not one is weak. Gripping, profound and atmospheric!

While I agree with those reviewers who cite the courtroom scenes in Sins of the Wolf as terrifically compelling and am delighted with the developing attraction between Hester Latterly and William Monk, I cannot agree that this is one of Perry's finest mys teries in the Monk series. In fact almost every turn of events brought a new jolt of incredulity. As an example, why oh why does Monk make the long and arduous trip (in pages as well as distance) to Northern Scotland to learn a bit of information about on e of the members of the Farraline family which he could so easily have learned from the family member himself and which in fact had no bearing whatsoever on the resolution of the mystery? To be really petty, must Hester turn up at the Farralines one day a fter the conclusion of her trial (and surprisingly cordial and unembarrassed the Farralines are too, considering the mess they'd thrown her into) still wearing her prison garb? And the confrontation and chase scene at the end seemed to me to smack more of a spaghetti western than a quality denouement. In my opinion Perry did much better with the earlier Monks, and I hope to discover she does just as well in the subsequent ones.

This is easily the best entry in the Monk series. The mystery was great, and the personal interplay between Hester, Monk and Rathbone was excellent. This was also the book where the emotion between Monk and Hester finally wins out over their reserve with each other, and the results are endearing. A must read for anyone who likes this series and these characters.