This is the 22nd book in the William Monk series, so it definitely helps if you are already familiar with the characters and part of the storyline for Monk. In this story, Commander Monk, who works with the Thames River Police, is called to investigate the drowning of an escaped prisoner. However, as always, things are not as clear as they seem at first, and Monk is forced to deal with a customs officer who seems to hold a bitter grudge against him. After a second prisoner escapes, Monk's pursuit leads to the accidental death of a man who works for the customs officer, Monk winds up in a very dangerous predicament which puts his own life at risk.
As mentioned, since this is the 22nd book in this series, it helps if you have read at least some of the previous books in the series. Typically for the series, Monk's loss of his memory years ago has a direct effect on what is happening in the story. In this story, it has a definite impact on what happens to him, and it's clear just how dangerous it is for him that he doesn't remember parts of his life (and thus, cannot be sure who he can trust). I did appreciate that in this book, Hester (his wife) was somewhat minimally involved, and also that the author did not belabor Hester's backstory, as I often find happens.
I have read all of Anne Perry's books in the Monk series, as well as the Pitt series, and while this book was okay, I felt a bit disappointed. The last few books from Perry, in both series, have felt somewhat flat, which makes me wonder if she's writing them to fulfill a contract, and perhaps just isn't as invested in the two series as much as she used to be.
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