Revenge in a Cold River: A William Monk Novel by Anne Perry

Monk has a problem.  He has a cop that hates him and is trying to get even for something that happened in the past.  Since Monk almost died from being hit and badly hurt by a carriage, he remembers nothing from the past.  What could he have done to make him hate him so?

Ballentine Books and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published September 6th.

Monk is an old friend of mine.  I've been reading about him for years and was ready to see him in action again.  I had no idea that he'd get so close to death in this story.

Monk is part of the River police.  McNab works in customs.  When he's called out about a prisoner who has escaped and drowned, he thinks it's McNab's case.  However, the man had been shot, too.  So that makes it a police case.  The sly look he gets from McNab is telling.  There's more going on than just an escape.

These two men have been enemies in the past and it gets worse this time.  Monk finds people who knew him in California and they tell him how he was in the past.  He also talks to his old supervisor to find out why McNab is after him.  He finds out he might have been involved in the death of a man in California and that it was his testimony that put McNab's half-brother on the gallows.  There are still gaps in his memory and he's afraid of what he doesn't know and what he might remember.  He really needs Hester while he struggles with this.

My favorite part of this story is the women.  They have all had bad experiences but they are strong and strong willed and intend to make things right.  His lawyer knows he's not guilty, but there are no witnesses.  He was trying to save the man from drowning and hit him to make him more compliant and get him out of the river.  Now he's being accused of murder and could hang.

The women Hester knows, the ones involved in the events of the past, his street friends and his lawyer friend are all working hard to save him.  It's tense, almost hopeless fight to prove him innocent.  But they don't give up.

This was a very good read.  I think it's one of the best in this series.  Try it and see what you think.