The Face of a Stranger

A William Monk Novel #1

By: Anne Perry

Narrated by: Davina Porter

Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

In this exhilarating series debut, police detective William Monk must solve the mystery of his own past.

His name, they tell him, is William Monk, and he is a London police detective. But the accident that felled him has left him with only half a life; his memory and his entire past have vanished. As he tries to hide the truth, Monk returns to work and is assigned to investigate the brutal murder of a Crimean War hero and man about town. Which makes Monk’s efforts doubly difficult, since he’s forgotten his professional skills along with everything else.

“Richly textured with the sights and sounds of London and its countryside … Solidly absorbing and Perry’s best to date.”—Kirkus Reviews

Crack another case with William Monk.

©1990 Anne Perry (P)1995 Recorded Books

A History Lesson

This was an interesting introduction to Detective Monk. I feel it like I had a history lesson on the Crimea War and Florence Nightingale’s work in the field. Crimea war and the impact it has on the soldiers is one of those lessons skipped over in American High Schools.
The mystery is tight and keeps you up Reading. Davina Porter is an absolute divine as the Narrator.

Very gripping

This was quite hard to put down!
The mystery is very good, and the characters are excellent. Great setting in that time period, feels very genuine. Overall an excellent read.

The audiobook narrator was fantastic.

So very excellent

There is so much going on in this story, and you really do have to listen carefully to it to keep all the names straight, but it is beyond excellent. It's so excellent, I have already bought several more in the series. The narrator is brilliant, too. Standing ovation.

The Face of a Stranger

So glad Audible has the beginning books in this series. I can now start to read them in order. Have read a few of the latest ones. This book makes everything fall into place. Perry does a great job painting a picture of London/England in the 1850's. The description of the social problems of day shows how far we have come and how easy it might be to fall back into the past again. Can not wait to start the next book to see if Hester and Monk get together. This is the time in history that the role of women began to make major changes then the biggest change came with WWI.

Face Of A Stranger : An Interesting Listen

This is the first book in this series and it held my interest all the way through. This is the type of story that I like listening to. It has a great main plots and a subplot that Perry weaves neatly into the main plot. Monk had an head injury due to an accident and couldn't remember much even when he went back to work as a police detective, but he acts like he does. The main plot involves murder and I could hardly wait to know "Who did it", who killed this well loved man? Who is he really? The usual main characters in this series are all here including, Hester, Rathbone, Evans, and of course Monk. Davina Porter is an excellent performer.

Disappointing

The characters and plot had promise but there was too much repetition about what the characters thought. Also, Monk is supposed to be a great detective but he completely missed obvious things. It was very frustrating!

I hate the way these books end!!!!!!

I did not listen to these books in order. I’ve listened to three and it is ridiculous how they all end. There should be more to the story after Monk figures things out. You listen all that time to find out what happens and when you do, your hear the guy say “the end”. I mean really?!!!! You’ve got us not liking these terrible people that have wronged the good guy and you don’t tell us what happens AFTER he gets caught?! Ridiculous!

Wonderful narration, mediocre story

I chose this audible book because Davina Porter was the narrator. I always find her voice and narration wonderful. This book was no exception. She did a great job with what she had to work with.
The story, the telling was somewhat boring. I had to force myself to pay attention and focus. I don’t like that. I like to listen to a story that draws me in and makes me hunger for the next sentence. This book was not like that.

Monk!

Love Davina Porter, so I got this story. Really well written! I couldn't 'put it down'.

Think I'm about to become a Monk fan

What made the experience of listening to The Face of a Stranger the most enjoyable?

Davina Porter

What other book might you compare The Face of a Stranger to and why?

Any number of similar mysteries abound, but Ms. Porter's talent as narrator sets this book apart.

Have you listened to any of Davina Porter’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I first heard Davina Porter as narrator for the Outlander series. Nothing could compare to that. So, as is the case with this book, I am as likely to choose a book because Ms. Porter is the narrator as I am because of a particular author and so have been introduced to several authors.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened in bits.