Anne Perry 
Acceptable Loss (William Monk Mystery, Book 17) 
A gripping Victorian mystery of blackmail, vice and corruption

As a past case returns to haunt Monk, can he find justice for the innocent? Inspector William Monk once again faces a dangerous foe in Acceptable Loss, the seventeenth novel in Anne Perry’s acclaimed series. Perfect for fans of C. J. Sansom and Ann Granger.'[An Anne Perry novel can] take us away to the far reaches of our imaginations, to a place and a time about which we can only dream… We see the gaslight, we feel the fog, and in Perry’s latest, Acceptable Loss, we experience the horror of murder, blackmail and sordid crime, as well as the shining victory of heroic sacrifice and personal courage‘ – Asbury Park Press In 1864, Monk and his wife Hester are doing their best to care for Scuff, a homeless boy recovering from a terrifying ordeal at the hands of Jericho Phillips, the runner of a child prostitution ring. Although Scuff’s evil abductor is dead, there is no suggestion that the ring has been broken and Scuff is certain that more children are suffering an even worse fate.Monk is determined to find the remaining children and uncover the men funding the operation. And when the body of small-time crook Mickey Parfitt washes up on Mortlake’s shore, it fortuitously points him in the right direction. But as Monk’s investigation continues, the reputations of respected gentlemen start being called into question and his task becomes fraught with unforeseen dangers. In an illicit world of blackmail, vice and corruption, Monk must follow the trail – and his conscience – wherever it leads, no matter how disturbing the truth may be. What readers are saying about Acceptable Loss: ‚There is no one who better captures the Victorian period. From the homes of the wealthy, to the lowest, meanest parts of London, [Anne Perry] creates a fully-realised world“A riveting mystery wrapped up in the dark and seedy side of Victorian London“Anne Perry is the best Victorian crime [writer] I have ever read‘