I’m always interested in the title of the book and this one certainly fits the story line.
William Monk is asked to determine if a young man is involved in railway fraud. The young woman asking (Katrina Harcus) for help is engaged to him….Michael Dalgarno who works for Baltimore & Sons.

Meanwhile, Hester is volunteering at a women’s clinic for prostitutes and doing her best to help the women. In an interesting way, she helps solve the murder of Nolan Baltimore and resolves the clinic rental situation.

Oliver Rathbone is at his best and keeps everyone in the courtroom (& the reader) on the edge of their seat.

Is there a new love interest on the horizon?

Great story with twists and turns and soul searching by Monk. ( )

William Monk has spent the last seven years running his inquiry agent business. In this new case he has two cases that may have ties to each other and to his past — a time he doesn’t remember due to a serious accident that gave him a case of amnesia.

Meanwhile William’s wife, Hester Monk, and the staff at the women’s clinic Hester established on Leather Lane, notice the prostitutes are coming in for treatment with more serious injuries than usual, more severe bruises, stabbings, and broken bones, not the usual in their line of business.

The finding of the dead body of a well-known railways magnate in a brothel brings a strong presence of police to the area of Leather Lane. An action that pretty well shuts down all business.

Monk finds his investigations may reveal that he had close ties to the accident that caused his amnesia and multiple deaths; ties that implicate him in a negative and life changing way.

Hester is focused on finding the reason for the increase of violence on the women, who may have been driven into this rough and sometimes violent life due to the double standard of the Victorian era.

It is interesting to read of the double standard set for women in this era. To be of honourable image and action in the public eye, but degraded in private. Do as I say, not as I do… ( )

Para las prostitutas de Leather Lane, la enfermera Hester Monk es la única tabla de salvación: además de velar por su salud, les ofrece apoyo moral en un momento difícil en el que el habitual clima violento del barrio ha venido a agravarse con un asesinato. La víctima es el magnate ferroviario Nolan Baltimore y su cuerpo, hallado en un burdel, ha despertado la curiosidad de los londinenses que, asombrados de que un hombre de su respetabilidad se encontrara en una zona tan conflictiva, se preguntan quién puede hallarse detrás del asesinato. Mientras tanto, el investigador William Monk, esposo de Hester, recibe la visita de una misteriosa y bella mujer que sospecha que detrás del asesinato de Baltimore puede hallarse un fraude de grandes dimensiones. A medida que Monk se sumerge en el caso, una serie de incómodos recuerdos del pasado, que creía haber desterrado de su memoria para siempre.

In this, the thirteenth book of the series, Monk is hired by a young woman to investigate a new railroad for fraud. It takes him back to the mysteries of his past life. Meanwhile, Hester is working in a refuge for injured and sick prostitutes who are being badly beaten. A prosperous railroad owner is found dead, and Hester tries to find out who murdered him.
Much of Monk's past is finally revealed finally. Oliver, Runcorn, and other of the recurring characters in the series show up which is always fun. Monk and Hester seem somewhat separated after the closeness in the recent books, but hopefully, they'll be able to confide in each other better going forward.
This series is always an enjoyable read. ( )

good Vict. England from other side Prostitutes — forced — Monk searching for past
Nurses in Brothel Areas — RR. Bldgs cutting costs + safety

For the prostitutes of Leather Lane, nurse Hester Monk’s clinic is a lifeline, providing medicine, food, and a modicum of peace—especially welcome since lately their ailments have escalated from bruises and fevers to broken bones and knife wounds. At the moment, however, the mysterious death of railway magnate Nolan Baltimore in a sleazy neighborhood brothel overshadows all else. Whether he fell or was pushed, the shocking question in everyone’s mind is: What was such a pillar of respectability doing in a seedy place of sin?