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Summary
Summary
The year is 1857, soon after the tragic Siege of Cawnpore. In the British garrison, a guard is killed and an Indian prisoner escapes, which leads to yet more British deaths. Cries for revenge are overwhelming. Despite no witnesses and no evidence against him, a luckless British medical orderly named John Tallis is arrested as an accomplice simply because he was the only soldier unaccounted for when these baffling crimes were committed. Though chosen to defend Tallis, young Lieutenant Victor Narraway is not encouraged to try very hard. Narraway's superiors merely want a show trial. But inspired by a soldier's widow and her children, and by his own stubborn faith in justice, Narraway searches for the truth. In an alien world haunted by memories of massacre, he is the accused man's only hope. The trial of John Tallis equals the white-knuckle best of Anne Perry's breathtaking courtroom dramas, as Narraway struggles to persevere against appalling odds and a frightful injustice.
Summary
The year is 1857, soon after the tragic Siege of Cawnpore. In the British garrison, a guard is killed and an Indian prisoner escapes, which leads to yet more British deaths. Cries for revenge are overwhelming. Despite no witnesses and no evidence against him, a luckless British medical orderly named John Tallis is arrested as an accomplice.
Author Notes
Anne Perry was born Juliet Hume on October 28, 1938 in Blackheath, London.
Sent to Christchurch, New Zealand to recover from a childhood case of severe pneumonia, she became very close friends with another girl, Pauline Parker. When Perry's family abandoned her, she had only Parker to turn to, and when the Parkers planned to move from New Zealand, Parker asked that Perry be allowed to join them. When Parker's mother disagreed, Perry and Parker bludgeoned her to death. Perry eventually served five and a half years in an adult prison for the crime.
Once she was freed, she changed her name and moved to America, where she eventually became a writer. Her first Victorian novel, The Cater Street Hangman, was published in 1979. Although the truth of her past came out when the case of Mrs. Parker's murder was made into a movie (Heavenly Creatures), Perry is still a popular author and continues to write. She has written over 50 books and short story collections including the Thomas Pitt series, the William Monk series, and the Daniel Pitt series. Her story, Heroes, won the 2001 Edgar Award for Best Short Story. Her title's Blind Justice and The Angel Court Affair made The New York Times Best Seller List.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
A particularly strong plot distinguishes bestseller Perry's 10th Christmas mystery (after 2011's Christmas Homecoming). In India in 1857, unrest over the oppressive minority rule of the East India Company has come to a head, with thousands of civilians as well as company employees dying in the ensuing violence. Against this tense backdrop, inexperienced Lt. Victor Narraway must defend Cpl. John Tallis, the medical orderly at Cawnpore, who stands accused of aiding an escaped Indian prisoner, Dhuleep Singh, who murdered a guard and fled with classified information on British troop movements. Though no one doubts Tallis's guilt, Narraway's military superiors order him to mount a vigorous defense to preserve a sense of law and order. The tension becomes palpable as the lieutenant frantically strains to find some evidence to exonerate Singh. Few readers will anticipate the clever solution. Agent: MBA Literary. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Perennial best-selling author Perry (A Sunless Sea, 2012, etc.) once again shows why her work resonates with readers in this short Christmas story that doesn't rely on all of the usual yuletide tricks to make it sing. Victor Narraway serves with the British army in 1857 war-torn India. Going into the service wasn't his idea, though; his father decided it would turn him into a man. Young Narraway now wears the insignia of lieutenant in a troubled country ruled by the British Empire. Recent uprisings among the Indian people have resulted in the deaths of thousands of Englishmen and their families, and the escape of a prisoner led to the tragic ambush of a patrol. It's that escape and patrol that now occupy Narraway, even though he wasn't even part of the garrison when the attack took place. His senior officer, Col. Latimer, who will preside over the court martial of a suspect in the case, has appointed him to represent the soldier, a medical orderly named John Tallis, who stands accused of conspiring with an Indian traitor to facilitate his escape and the targeting of the patrol. Narraway is only given a couple of days to prepare for the trial, which he understands he will lose: Tallis is the only soldier who cannot be accounted for during the time that the escape took place. But when Narraway visits with Tallis, he is struck by how much he likes the forlorn and ultimately doomed medical orderly and believes he is innocent of the crime. With little hope of saving the man before the onset of Christmas, Narraway sets out to prove his innocence and surprises even himself with his resourcefulness. Perry avoids all of the mawkish pitfalls that are usually the hallmark of holiday books by choosing an unconventional setting and decidedly different approach. Rather than leaning on sentiment, she writes an honest, though somewhat grim, story that captures the essence of 19th-century India and the character of a compassionate man. A novel approach to an oft-explored subject, this tale will delight Perry's fans and bring her new ones.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
When Lieutenant Victor Narraway arrives in Cawnpore, India, emotions are still raw from the 1857 Indian mutiny and the atrocities that rebels committed at the Bibighar. In addition, a prisoner, Dhuleep Singh, escaped, leading to the massacre of a British patrol. After an investigation, the army found that medical orderly Corporal John Tallis was the only man who didn't have an alibi during the escape. Tallis is being tried as a traitor, and the 20-year-old Narraway is to handle his defense. The army wants the trial and execution held quickly, and the commanding officer doesn't want Narraway making waves. Tallis, however, proclaims his innocence, and Narraway believes him. Narraway worries his inexperience will cost Tallis his life, but then with the help of two children, he cracks the case. This engaging historical mystery offers an introspective look at the character, Narraway, who will become the future boss of Thomas Pitt, star of Perry's long-running series. Perry's tenth Christmas novel is a winner.--O'Brien, Sue Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Colonial India is the setting for best-selling Perry's tenth Christmas novella (A Christmas Homecoming). The soldiers at Crawnpore are still reeling from a mutinous massacre and a recent ambush that was possible because a prisoner escaped with information about the British patrol route. Medical orderly John Tallis is now on trial for allegedly helping the prisoner escape, mainly because he is the only soldier whose whereabouts at the time of the escape are unknown. Lt. Victor Narraway, the future boss of series sleuth William Pitt, is new to Crawnpore and commanded to defend Tallis enough to make the trial look fair. Narraway is surprised when he believes Tallis's claims of innocence and sets out to find out what really happened. VERDICT A clever but grim mystery best for Perry's established fans. [See Prepub Alert, 5/20/12.] (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.