Instruments of Darkness
Subtitle: A Novel
Publisher: The Penguin Group
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New York, New York, USA
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover;
Number of pages: 373
ISBN-13: 9780670022427
Description: In the year 1780, Harriet Westerman, the willful mistress of a country manor in Sussex, finds a dead man on her grounds with a ring bearing the crest of Thornleigh Hall in his pocket. Not one to be bound by convention or to shy away from adventure, she recruits a reclusive local anatomist named Gabriel Crowther to help her find the murderer, and historical suspense's newest investigative duo is born.

For years, Mrs. Westerman has sensed the menace of neighboring Thornleigh Hall, seat of the Earl of Sussex. It is the home of a once- great family that has been reduced to an ailing invalid, his whorish wife, and his alcoholic second son, a man haunted by his years spent as a redcoat in the Revolutionary War. The same day, Alexander Adams is slain by an unknown killer in his London music shop, leaving his children orphaned. His death will lead back to Sussex, and to an explosive secret that has already destroyed one family and threatens many others.

Instruments of Darkness combines the brooding atmosphere of Anne Perry with the complex, compelling detail of Tess Gerritsen, moving from drawing room to dissecting room, from coffee house to country inn. Mrs. Westerman and Mr. Crowther are both razor-sharp minds and their personalities breathe spirit into this gripping historical mystery.

Book One of the Crowther and Westerman Series.
Table of contents: label: Part One
title: 1; label: Chapter One
title: 3; label: Chapter Two
title: 10; label: Chapter Three
title: 16; label: Chapter Four
title: 19; label: Chapter Five
title: 27; label: Chapter Six
title: 34; label: Chapter Seven
title: 42; label: Chapter Eight
title: 52; label: Chapter Nine
title: 59; label: Chapter Ten
title: 63; label: Part Two
title: 79; label: Chapter One
title: 81; label: Chapter Two
title: 88; label: Chapter Three
title: 102; label: Chapter Four
title: 111; label: Chapter Five
title: 115; label: Chapter Six
title: 125; label: Part Three
title: 139; label: Chapter One
title: 141; label: Chapter Two
title: 147; label: Chapter Three
title: 153; label: Chapter Four
title: 161; label: Chapter Five
title: 169; label: Part Four
title: 181; label: Chapter One
title: 183; label: Chapter Two
title: 187; label: Chapter Three
title: 193; label: Chapter Four
title: 200; label: Chapter Five
title: 206; label: Chapter Six
title: 210; label: Chapter Seven
title: 215; label: Chapter Eight
title: 223; label: Chapter Nine
title: 230; label: Chapter Ten
title: 237; label: Part Five
title: 251; label: Chapter One
title: 253; label: Chapter Two
title: 262; label: Chapter Three
title: 270; label: Chapter Four
title: 278; label: Chapter Five
title: 285; label: Chapter Six
title: 293; label: Chapter Seven
title: 298; label: Chapter Eight
title: 304; label: Part Six
title: 313; label: Chapter One
title: 315; label: Chapter Two
title: 320; label: Chapter Three
title: 324; label: Chapter Four
title: 330; label: Chapter Five
title: 336; label: Chapter Six
title: 341; label: Chapter Seven
title: 348; label: Chapter Eight
title: 351; label: Chapter Nine
title: 355; label: In Conclusion
title: 366; label: Epilogue
title: 371