Murder on the Serpentine Author:Anne Perry In the history of Anne Perry's bestselling Victorian mystery series, the stakes have never been greater than now-as a mission for queen and country places the future of the British Empire squarely in Thomas Pitt's hands. — It is not the custom for the commander of Special Branch to receive a royal summons-so Thomas Pitts knows it must be a matter... more » of the gravest importance. The body of Sir John Halberd, the Queen's confidant, has been found dead in the shallow water for the Serpentine in Hyde Park, bearing the evidence of a fatal blow to the head. At Her Majesty's request, Sir John had been surreptitiously investigating Alan Kendrick, a horse-racing enthusiast who seems to have had an undue amount of influence on her son, the Prince of Wales.« less