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    One Fatal Flaw
    One Fatal Flaw
    One Fatal Flaw
    Audiobook9 hours

    One Fatal Flaw

    Written by Anne Perry

    Narrated by Samuel Roukin

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Two fiery deaths have young lawyer Daniel Pitt and his scientist friend Miriam fford Croft racing to solve a
    forensic crisis in this explosive new novel from New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry.

    When Jessie Beale comes to see Daniel Pitt, desperately seeking a lawyer for her boyfriend, Rob Adwell, Daniel
    is convinced of the young man’s innocence. Adwell has been accused of murder and of setting a fire to conceal the
    body, but Daniel is sure that science can absolve him—and Miriam fford Croft is the best scientist he knows. Miriam
    connects Daniel with her former teacher Sir Barnabas Saltram, an expert in arson, and together they reveal Adwell’s
    innocence by proving that an accidental fire caused the victim’s death. But it’s not long before Adwell is killed in the
    same fiery fashion. If these deaths are, in fact, murders, what essential clue could Daniel and Miriam have missed?

    As the investigation deepens, one of Saltram’s former cases comes into question and Miriam finds herself on the
    defensive. If the reasoning Saltram used in that case is proved false, several other cases will have to be retried, and
    Saltram’s expert status—not to mention Miriam’s reputation—will be ruined. Haunted by Saltram’s shady tactics in
    and outside the classroom, Miriam is desperate to figure out truths both past and present and protect herself in the
    face of Saltram’s lies. What started as an accidental fire in Adwell’s case seems to be linked to a larger plot for revenge,
    with victims accumulating in its wake, and Miriam and Daniel must uncover who or what is stoking these recurring
    flames—before they, too, find themselves burned
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateApr 7, 2020
    ISBN9781980054603
    One Fatal Flaw
    Author

    Anne Perry

    With twenty million books in print, ANNE PERRY's was selected by The Times as one of the twentieth century's '100 Masters of Crime', for more information about Anne and her books, visit: www.anneperry.co.uk

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    Reviews for One Fatal Flaw

    4.5/5

    64 ratings13 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Three young lawyer who discovered himself as he searches for truth. It is also a story about women and respect for the ability of women. It takes place just after three death of Queen Victoria.
    • 4/5
      In this third installment of a nicely evolving series, Daniel Pitt is hitting his stride as a young attorney. He strives for justice and responds to challenges quite nicely. The challenges here are a deceitful client and a vengeful and arrogant consultant. The final courtroom scene is very well done.
    • 3/5
      Daniel Pitt, still working as a junior associate at the law firm, is approached by a young woman, asking him to defend her boyfriend on murder charges. The victim had died in a fire and the ME had concluded that a blow to the head was the cause of death. Daniel doesn't think that he has any defense until Miriam fford Croft suggests that he retain the services of Sir Barnabas Saltram, one of her former teachers. The move has the desired effect and the boyfriend is acquitted, But then the story gets a bit repetitive when the boyfriend is found dead, murdered in the same manner and same circumstances. The person charged this time is the young woman and Daniel feels obligated to represent her as well. However, during the interview of his new client, Daniel realizes not only did the woman kill her boyfriend, but she was probably responsible for the first death as well. Knowing that he was manipulated into this situation, Daniel has to find a way to lose the case while still representing his client as best he can,Again, Miriam connects Daniel with an expert witness who can refute the testimony of Saltram. But Saltram is a formidable enemy and when his theories are discounted and efforts are made my Daniel's law firm colleagues to discount the evidence the Saltram had given in other cases, in essence to destroy Saltram's expert reputation, Daniel, Miriam and the law firm are endangered.The circumstances of the cases was a bit too repetitive with the testimony going over and over about fire and cracked skulls. The story and interaction of the characters was great but the repetition left me a bit sleepy. Still all and all a good read.
    • 4/5
      This is a legal thriller set in London in the early 1900's before World War 1. Young barrister Daniel Pitt is drawn into a pair of capital murder trials, where each of the deaths resulted from an arson fire. The second of the trials exposes an expert witness as having given flawed, perhaps false, testimony. This revelation leads to re-litigation of a much earlier case in which the same expert testified and which therefore may have been wrongfully decided because of his flawed evidence. The outstanding question is whether an innocent man hanged. The spectacular end of that re-litigated case brings this story to a conclusion.The story gets off to a slow start, a quick browse of the first five chapters can put a reader into the picture. The story-telling picks up with the sixth chapter. The author's literary licence stretches legal procedure and the rules of evidence to the maximum, which may strain credibility in search of a good story. There's plenty of social commentary about the death penalty and the role of women in the physical sciences at the time. The male centric legal system of the time is similarly demonstrated. The growing romantic relationship between Daniel and Miriam is an elephant in the room too; their substantial age difference will be an issue to address in future books.It's an OK read, that gets better as the story progresses. There are better books in this series.
    • 5/5
      This third book in the Daniel Pitt series is another winner. Ms. Perry has branched out from her two long-running series by starting this new one with Charlotte and Thomas Pitt's son Daniel who is a young lawyer (25) who has recently graduated from Cambridge University, and is working at a prestigious law firm in London. This series still has Ms. Perry's flawless plotting and detailed characterizations. It is also an illuminating insight into the times (late 1910 and early 1911). England is going through some major societal and political changes, and there are murmurings of some real unrest in Germany. Daniel has brought his firm into what seems a hopeless case where a young man has been charged with arson and murder. The young man's girlfriend has enlisted his help. Daniel pulls out all the stops to save his client, but while doing so, makes some very worrisome and powerful enemies which puts himself, his family, his firm and his friends in grave danger. Daniel struggles to do what's right and just at any cost. He is not a young man that will give up on anything once he's on a case. (A bit like his mother Charlotte). And we get to see Charlotte and Thomas Pitt again in this spin-off series. This is a page-turner, and the book has a particularly evil and powerful villain, who, like all Anne Perry's characters, is very clearly and realistically portrayed, This is a great new series from a very prolific and much revered author.
    • 5/5
      Lawyer Daniel Pitt is asked to defend a criminal in a case of arson and murder which seems cut-and-dried, only it escalates into another case. Two warehouses have burnt down and two murders have been committed exactly the same way. He calls upon experts on forensic science to present evidence of what really happened in these fascinatingly complex cases.One Fatal Flaw by Anne Perry is number 3 and the last in Daniel Pitt Mysteries Series published by Ballantine Books. We follow new lawyer Daniel Pitt as he is asked to defend a known criminal in an arson-murder case. Soon there is an identical case, and they both seem disturbingly similar to a case 20 years ago. Daniel gets help from forensic scientist Miriam fford Croft as well as his powerful father, Thomas Pitt of Special Branch, to prove what really happened.Secondary character Miriam fford Croft is an interesting female character with views that would fit right into the 2000s. She is well educated and is frustrated that women are not allowed to earn degrees in England 1910. I think she is hard working and an impressive character despite having had serious setbacks in her personal life. I was pleased to see she found a way to deal with her professional problems and I she is my favorite in this story.The historical setting of this plot is London 1910 when English women were expected to marry. Education was considered a waste of time. Miriam fford Croft managed to complete her studies, but didn’t earn a degree because she was a woman. As Anne Perry’s books are set mainly in 1800s, there are elements of male prejudice against women in most of them. In One Fatal Flaw it is a prominent part of the plot, which I enjoyed a lot in the way I would a horror movie. One Fatal Flaw (Daniel Pitt Mystery #3) by Anne Perry is a quick and easy read with an exciting plot set in a new century. The writing is vivid and the character building excellent. I enjoyed reading Triple Jeopardy #2 in Daniel Pitt Mysteries Series, just as it was released. One Fatal Flaw includes hints to previous stories, giving just enough info about characters for it to work excellently as a standalone as all other works of Anne Perry. I love Anne Perry’s unique cockney dialect writing, and the mystery element of Miriam’s personal life, which was revealed as a little gem right at the end. I am excited to read anything else she releases in future.Fans of Anne Perry will love One Fatal Flaw. As will readers of historical crime fiction. Similar authors to explore might be C.S. Harris or Charles Finch.Thank you to the local Public Library of Kristiansand for providing One Fatal Flaw which gave me the opportunity to share my honest review. All opinions are completely my own.My rating: 5 stars / 5Main reasons: Excellent plot, superb writing, great characters
    • 4/5
      This is the first of Anne Perry's Daniel Pitt novels that I have read, the earlier two being Twenty-One Days and Triple Jeopardy. Son of Charlotte and Thomas Pitt (protagonists of over 30 novels in their own series), Daniel is a junior barrister in London working for a reputable, old firm. I have read almost all of the Charlotte and Thomas novels and have wondered, as the books move through the period of Queen Victoria's rule, whether Daniel and his sister Jemima would simply fade out as they became adults. But no, as England transitions to a time with a new monarch, so too does Perry transition to a series featuring Daniel Pitt in his twenties. His father and mother have brief appearances in One Fatal Flaw, but the emphasis is on Daniel; his burgeoning professional/ romantic relationship with Miriam fford Croft, a scientist without the legal ability to be a doctor; and barrister Marcus fford Croft, Miriam's father.The crux of the story involves a series of trials in which fire and dead bodies dominate. Science is an up-front element because an eminent forensic expert Sir Barnabas Saltram has provided crucial information in all of them. We learn that Miriam studied with Saltram some years before, and she is able to persuade him to testify in Daniel Pitt's cases. From that scenario spins the rest of the tale.I found two things very intriguing about this novel. First, how many female scientists Perry could introduce into the story. Not only Miriam fford Croft, but also Marie Curie (one brief reference) and Dr. Evelyn Hall, a renown forensic expert practicing in Holland, who testifies for Daniel and begins the process of bringing to light the “fatal flaw”: desire for revenge.Also, the most suspenseful scenes are in court, and here Perry utilizes the same dialogue savvy that she uses in her William and Hester Monk series, which often features barrister Sir Oliver Rathbone. Like a few good courtroom procedurals on television, the lawyer-witness parrying kept me riveted.In all, I think I'll now read other Daniel Pitt books, looking forward to more of the Daniel-Miriam relationship and courtroom dramatics.I was given an advance review copy of this book by LibraryThing.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book. Daniel is approached by a young, pretty woman who asks him to represents her friend who is accused of murdering a rival gang member in the commission of a fire. With Miriam's help he enlists the leading forensic scientist who specializes in fires. He wins the case and then a few weeks later the woman is arrested for the same type of crime. Daniel believes he's been duped and this starts the beginning of the second case and the real premise of the book. We learn more of Miriam's background, the struggles women faced at that time, and there's sound advice from Charlotte, Daniel's mother.
    • 5/5
      Defense and counter defense. Check and checkmate!An unremitting and fascinating case for Daniel Pitt, even as he becomes a more reluctant player. As the story built I was exhausted by the first court case and nowhere near ready enough for the second. Good grief I thought! By the end of a third one I was wrung out like a wet bleach cloth (currently being used constantly around my home).Perry has given us a Daniel Pitt intricately woven story centered around two deaths from arson. Toby Kitteridge, a senior in the chambers, is as usual a wonderful foil for Daniel. I am quietly interested in Toby Kitteridge whom Miriam thinks of him as being surprisingly "agile of mind and clumsy of body." Miriam fford Croft is involved once again, assisting Daniel with her forensic expertise. However, as we know, as a woman Miriam has no legal authority or acceptance by the courts. She puts Daniel in touch with Sir Barnabas Saltram, an expert in arson cases. Saltram is her former teacher, a man superbly secure in his opinions about himself, his work, and his disdain for Miriam. I found the thinly elegant Doctor, a villain of the first order.When the second case surrounding the deaths comes to court, Daniel finds himself working on behalf of the girlfriend of the man he'd previously defended, Rob Adwell.The way these cases unfold during the trials is absolutely fascinating. Head of Chambers, Marcus fford Croft rises to the occasion for an associated case and Miriam has a breakthrough.I confess I am enthralled by the legal challenges this series bring forth. Just loving Daniel's journey as a solicitor who seems to fall into unusual cases, and that of Miriam as a scientist.A Random - Ballantine ARC via NetGalley
    • 4/5
      A clever girl, a few heinous crimes, a naive barrister, some interesting legal wrangling, some contemptuous characters, some right-minded ones to help sort it out and always a strong belief in justice. It was a long windup and I felt as if there were a lot of balls thrown over the plate before one was hit out of the park.Harboring the feeling of helplessness, watching those you care about being destroyed by injustice, how do you get out of a such a disastrous situation with decency? How do you maintain your balance? The best advice given: “You can follow the facts wherever they seem to lead, or you can decide what the truth is and then look for the facts that seem to prove it. The honest way lies between the two.” That is where the story gets more than interesting. Anne Perry doesn’t hand you the answers. She makes you work to untangle the mystery and drama. While her villains are truly loathsome they are not one dimensional. They are bright, clever and self-righteous. Her protagonists are equal in virtue and there is a clear line drawn and a harsh gauntlet thrown down. Daniel Pitt is going to “poke the bear” and the question becomes whether he is up to the challenge. If he loses the cost to be borne will not be his alone. I enjoyed this installment in the Daniel Pitt series and look forward to watching the characters and relationships grow and mature.Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a copy
    • 5/5
      Series: Daniel Pitt #3Publication Date: 4/7/20Number of Pages: 304Tightly wrapped within the cocoon of this superb, well-plotted mystery series, you will find the nuggets of early forensic science. This story deals with the effect of arson and intense heat upon bones – particularly the skull – and the way an arrogant, self-centered, selfish, vengeful ‘expert’ can warp the judicial system for his own reward.The story is tightly plotted, well written, and filled with historical accuracy. I loved Daniel Pitt immediately because I loved his parents first. Daniel is a wonderfully honest, dedicated, and very honorable twenty-five-year-old man who has been out of law school for just a couple of years. He’s on the bottom rung of the ladder at his law firm, fford Croft and Gibson, and rarely gets assigned a case himself. He sits as second chair to his friend and mentor, Toby Kitteridge.When a young woman, Jessie Beale, arrives at the prestigious law firm and asks to see Daniel, it is because of an earlier case in which he had represented a party who was found innocent. It had seemed a near-impossible case, yet Daniel won it – and she wanted that same thing for her friend, Rob Adwell. After hearing what she had to say, Daniel couldn’t help but believe the man was guilty of the crime, but once he discussed it with Kitteridge and the firm head Marcus fford Croft, it was decided they would take the case. He was amazed when they won the case, but it was because of the expert forensic testimony of Sir Barnabus Saltram.Weeks later, Daniel is called to defend Jessie herself. She is accused of murdering Rob in exactly the same manner as the first murder occurred. As Daniel investigates, he begins to wonder if his client might not be guilty of not one, but two murders. Yet, because of the expert testimony from Adwell’s trial, he can only assume she will be found innocent. That tears at him because he will be a party to letting a murderer go free. What a conundrum our erstwhile young lawyer has found for himself. How can he meet his obligations to his client and his conscience at the same time?As more things emerge and information shifts, attacks happen, the tale gets filled with more twists and turns. Will Daniel’s minor case end up turning Britain’s justice system and the fledgling forensic sciences field on its head?Miriam fford Croft is the forty-year-old daughter of Marcus fford Croft, Daniel’s boss. Miriam is a woman who has suffered for the times. She’s brilliant, dedicated, educated, and without a college degree or credentials even though she has completed all of the coursework and received exceptional marks. The field of forensic science is not one that is available for women. I have to say, I was a bit concerned about Miriam in about the first 35-40% of the book. She seemed to have given up on her pursuits and was feeling pretty ho-hum. Then, she perked up and things got moving for her. I was happy for her to finally come to some sort of resolution within herself.I loved Miriam and Daniel working together and solving issues. I loved Miriam’s courage in the face of social ruin and I loved that Daniel let her make the decision about how to continue.I keep wondering if there is going to be a May-December romance between Daniel and Miriam. They certainly care for each other, but is it romantic? I don’t know, but it will be interesting to see.I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
    • 4/5
      Another of the books about the Pitt Family by Anne Perry, this one continues the trajectory of Daniel, a young barrister and the son of Charlotte and Thomas from earlier mysteries. A young impoverished woman pleads with him to defend her boyfriend who is believed to have caused a death by arson. With the help of his friend Miriam he solicits the expert testimony of her former mentor, and the events become increasingly complicated, both during the trial and outside the courtroom. This was an enjoyable read, but perhaps not as memorable as some of Perry's other work.
    • 5/5
      early-20th-century, lawyers, London, arson, murder-investigation, friendship, forensics, gangsters*****The best thing about dropping into a spin-off series by an author I enjoyed in the past but who slipped off my radar is a newer and more evidence biased appreciation of her ability. The original mystery series began before Daniel's parents had even met and continued onward as the constable rose through the ranks and the (demoted as a result of her marriage) society heiress continued to assist him with cases, some of which she dragged him into. Now it's 1910 and their second child, Daniel, is a fledgling lawyer in a fairly prestigious office. When a probably unwinnable and supposedly cut and dried case comes to his attention he calls on friends and digs deep. One memorable aspect (aside from the misogyny of the era) is a look into the early development of forensic application to investigations. Good plot full of twists, misdirections, and red herrings all done very well. I think that her writing has gotten even better and I plan to reread the original series until it's time to catch up to this one!I requested and received a free ebook copy from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books via NetGalley. Thank you!