The Cater Street Hangman--Anne Perry

 The Book:

    Here we have Anne Perry's debut novel introducing Charlotte Ellison and Thomas Pitt, who by the end of the book agree to get married and form one of the foremost fictitious Victorian crime fighting couples in the puzzle mystery genre.  

    This book is mainly written from Charlotte's point of view, with a few insertions of her sisters Sarah and Emily.

    What we know of Charlotte, is that she is a disaster socially. A trait that endears her to her Aunt Suzanna, but is trying for her grandmama, mother, and sisters. While Aunt Suzanna, a widowed woman without children, has been traveling a dreadful crime has occurred on the very street where the Ellison family lives. Charlotte tires of everyone "not talking" about the murder and just comes right out and tells Suzanna, much to the dismay of rest of the women. 

    The household is still scared, when a few days later, the maid, Lily fails to come home from a date with her young admirer. Left alone, and therefore in charge, of the house, Charlotte decides to inform the police and to start the formal search for Lily. 

    When Lily's body is found murdered the next morning, Inspector Thomas Pitt is introduced to the household. His uncomfortable questions and untidy manner leave these upper middle class Victorians bristling. Even so, it take observant, practical Emily only moments to deduce that Pitt has crush on Charlotte.  As the plot moves on, and even older sister Sarah becomes a victim,  it looks like every man in Charlotte and Emily's orbit may be the murderer. Until, inevitably, it's Pitt's love for Charlotte that has him seeking her just as she comes under attack from the killer and thus the mystery is solved. 

My Thoughts

    Here we have a Victorian puzzle mystery by Anne Perry. In her first outing as a novelist, we have a puzzle mystery. The puzzle itself is reasonably constructed and the clues are well placed. The ending of the book is gratifying. Perry tends to skip the denouement, in favor of an active ending. Where, step by step, the actions allow us to see how we were supposed to add up the clues. Pitt has no narrative need to explain. 

    The first time I read this book, I had to go back and read it again, wondering what it was that I missed along the way. This is one of those great mysteries, where once you know the who in Whodunnit, a reread reveals yet another layer of the mystery. 

    Perry believes in fair play mysteries. Every clue you need to solve the puzzle is there.

   I believe the characters in this first book are a little flat, with the exception of Emily, who sparkles. Pitt is enigmatic, and we get almost no scenes from his point of view. There is some head hopping, and Perry flits between third person omniscient and close third person. It's a solid first outing for an author. 

Controversy

    You either know why Anne Perry is controversial or you don't. I fell in love with her books when I was a teenager, long before her notorious actions were public. I will cover books on her crime in the order in which they were published. This book was published in 1979, the movie came out in 1994, the books in the 2000s. We have a long way to go before we catch up to those books. If you can comment respectfully, then you are encouraged to do so. I personally believe there is a complex discussion to be had here, and I will attempt to be sensitive to the ripples this act left on the world. 

How Much My Library Card Saved Me

Book two of my reading adventure. 48 books to go. 

This book is part of a sett purchased by my library in the spring of 2018. The book was received into the library on April 06, 2018. 

This Book:             $16.00

This Summer:       $43.99