Death with a double edge

 Death with a Double Edge by Anne Perry  293 pages

Summary from Goodreads: When junior barrister Daniel Pitt is summoned to the scene of a murder in the London district known as Mile End, he knows only that the victim is a senior barrister from the same firm. To Daniel's relief, it is not his close friend Toby Kitteridge, but the question remains: What was this respected colleague doing in such a rough part of the city? The firm's head, Marcus fford Croft, may know more than he admits, but fford Croft's memory is not what it used to be, and his daughter, Miriam--Daniel's friend and sometime sidekick--isn't in the country to offer her usual help. And so Daniel and Kitteridge must investigate on their own, lest the police uncover something that may cast a suspicious light on the firm.

Their inquiries in Mile End lead them to a local brothel and to an opium den, but also--unexpectedly--to a wealthy shipbuilder crucial to Britain's effort to build up its fleet, which may soon face the fearsome naval might of Germany. Daniel finds his path blocked by officials at every turn, his investigation so unwelcome that even his father, Special Branch head Thomas Pitt, receives a chilling warning from a powerful source. Suddenly, not just Daniel but his whole family--including his beloved mother, Charlotte--is in danger. Will Daniel's devotion to justice be the undoing of his entire life, and endanger Britain's defense at sea?

And here's what I thought: This is the fourth book in the Daniel Pitt series and I think it's the best one yet. From the beginning, Perry lays out details that are intriguing and then the suspense builds throughout the story. As always, there are plenty of realistic details here, so it's very easy to become immersed in the story and the setting. I like that Daniel is an earnest character, but he's not so perfect to be unbelievable. I also like that Perry includes elements that are easy to relate to, like having one character who has started to develop memory problems with age. It makes you wonder if you have somewhat of an unreliable narrator in that character, which adds an extra bit of mystery to this mystery. It doesn't hurt that Perry brings in more of both Thomas and Charlotte Pitt, characters that I have always enjoyed.