The prolific Ms. Perry is expert at summoning the looks and moods of her books’ chosen periods, and her characters, from working-class to upper-crust, are well-drawn and engaging ... If the solution to the mystery of Three Debts Paid feels a trifle farfetched, it does provide an undeniable jolt.
Author Perry fills her novels with commentaries on the social mores of the times, as well as its legal aspects, giving a mini-history of the period while weaving a complex tale of mystery and murder told from the point of view of Pitt’s son, Daniel. Thus, the reader is presented with a tale of simultaneous cases of laws being broken, and the intricate, dangerous, and convoluted events leading to their resolution ... Three Debts Paid is a typical Anne Perry story, not so graphic in the details of the crimes, but giving the reader great depth into the characters of the protagonists and the villain, as well as a wealth of social and legal aspects of the Victorian era.
Subpar ... There’s zero deduction, and most readers will identify who’s responsible for the murders long before the Pitts do. Even those who derive pleasure from anticipating the solution will feel let down. Perry has done better.
