"When William Monk's wife, Hester, is kidnapped from the hospital where she volunteers, Monk is desperate to rescue her. But when his investigation leads him to the remote home of the wealthy and enigmatic Bryson Radnor--and to several bodies buried on his grounds--Monk realizes there is far more to Hester's kidnapping than meets the eye. What did Hester learn that made her a danger to Radnor? What are the two doctors Hester was working with at the...

In the course of his tenure with the Thames River Police, Commander Monk has yet to see a more gruesome crime scene: a Hungarian warehouse owner lies in the middle of his blood-sodden office, pierced through the chest with a bayonet and eerily surrounded by seventeen candles, their wicks dipped in blood. Suspecting the murder may be rooted in ethnic prejudice, Monk turns to London's Hungarian community in search of clues but finds his inquiries stymied...

"When the body of a small-time crook named Mickey Parfitt washes up on the tide, no one grieves. But William Monk, commander of the River Police, is puzzled by the expensive silk cravat used to strangle Parfitt. Informers lead Monk to what may be a partial answer-a floating palace of corruption on the Thames managed by Parfitt, where a captive band of half-starved boys are forced to perform vile acts. Further investigation takes Monk and his wife,...

As commander of the River Police, Monk is accustomed to violent death, but the mutilated female body found on Limehouse Pier one chilly December morning moves him with horror and pity. The victim's name is Zenia Gadney. Her waterfront neighbors can tell him little, only that the same unknown gentleman had visited her once a month for many years. She must be a prostitute, but, described as quiet and kept, she doesn't appear to be a fallen woman. What...