The Cater Street Hangman

Adult fiction; period drama. This is not so much a mystery as it is a novel set during a time of terror wreaked by a serial killer, since there is very little sleuthing done but rather a lot of hand wringing and arguing amongst family members (sister rivalries! marital transgressions!), until finally the main character is attacked (and thus the murderer's identity is finally discovered, and there the book just ends). The book deals quite a bit with the inequalities in moral standards for men vs. women and even a bit among classes in the Victorian era. Though Charlotte would be the lead female for this and a series of books to follow, I didn't find her that strong of a character (she is allowed to exercise her sharp tongue here and show more there, but mostly she's kind of flighty and not really that astute); and the lead male, Inspector Pitt, is mostly just an insufferable know-it-all, but with an apparent soft spot for Charlotte. I suspect they balance each other out more in the books to follow, but here they are both weak characters and not all that likeable. show less

This mystery, set in Victorian England, forces its cast of upper middle class characters to confront the realities of crime, poverty, secrets and madness in a compelling and exceedingly well-written way.
Young women in Charlotte Ellison's neighborhood are being killed, garroted!, and Charlotte can no longer be content living her naive, cosseted and uninformed lifestyle. Always more inclined to be interested in subjects considered unsuitable for young ladies and frequently chastised for her frankness, Charlotte's character is ahead of her time and a delight to read about. Inspector Thomas Pitt has the audacity to begin to admire Charlotte, though she is above his station, while he investigates the murders near her home. Everyone is a show more suspect and Charlotte's family begins to suspect each other as well as unearth each other's secrets as the investigation drags on. Questions of propriety, poverty, sin and innocence are explored.
The language is formal and befitting of the time period; it almost read like Austen or Brontë. I also found it interesting to read about the Victorian middle class as most period novels are set among the Gentry almost exclusively. The chemistry between Charlotte and Thomas built steadily through the book in a very realistic way, although the ending of the book and the confrontation with the murderer brought upon a resolution to their dance a little sooner than I'd expected. Although, the name of the series is a spoiler in that way. It might have been interesting to read without knowing the two would end up together. I do look forward to more adventures with these two as Charlotte is exposed to the seedier side of Thomas' job. show less

Cater Street is being stalked by a murderer, and when a maid in the Ellison household is garroted, the tension becomes unbearable. Women have to be careful never to go out alone. Men find themselves wondering if someone they know is the murderer, and wives begin to doubt their own husbands. Inspector Thomas Pitt must somehow navigate upper-class society's secrets to figure out the murder's identity. As he does so, he becomes closer to Charlotte Ellison, who's still nursing a secret crush on her sister's husband.

I started this series with the second book. That worked out well enough, but I was advised to go back and read the first book before moving on to the third. When I saw that this audiobook was available for checkout, I decided to show more give it a shot.

I read the second book back in 2019 and had already forgotten a lot, so I reread my review before writing this. I feel much the same way about this book as I did about the second: it seemed like it took ages for the murder investigation to make any progress, one detail swooped in practically out of nowhere at the end, and some of the characters' names (like Charlotte and her mother, Caroline) were similar enough that I occasionally had trouble remembering they were separate people. On the plus side, I really enjoyed the gradual progression of Thomas and Charlotte's romance (although I wish there'd been something more to it than her eventually realizing she's in love with him because he's basically the most decent person she knows), and the mystery wasn't uninteresting, just extremely slow.

For some reason, both in this book and in the second one, the level of darkness and tragedy took my by surprise. Something about this series keeps making me expect "light and fluffy," and then I get smacked in the face with sadness. This particular book digs a bit into the pain and unfairness of women being held to one standard while men are held to another.

I really liked Davina Porter's narration and may listen to more audiobooks in this series once I've read my paper copy of Book 3.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

I read this book almost right after reading the first book of Perry's 'William Monk' series. As a result my expectation of what to expect in this book was completely off. At first I was disappointed but once my expectation was adjusted I enjoyed the book a lot. In the Monk series we get one perspective, the male investigator. I had anticipated this would follow the same general way of telling the story but was wrong. The story was told from several different character's perspective, none of which was the lead investigator looking into the crime. This novel deals much more with the daily routine of a Victorian family, especially young and outspoken Charlotte Ellison.

Although I liked the dialogue and discussions between the various show more members of the Ellison family, I was a little frustrated that as a reader I didn't get exposed to most of the actual crime investigation. Also the supposed romance in the book between Charlotte and her future husband, Inspector Pitt, was delayed until the very end of the book. The shift in Charlotte's feelings for the good Inspector came across as a little too abrupt. I would have much preferred their romance to be covered in a little more detail over the space of two or three books. Although I like Perry's writing, I think I'll continue with her William Monk series. show less

Surprisingly awesome book (why the low expectations? I've been disappointed before) and I'm looking forward to devouring the other 25 in the series. Here we meet Charlotte Ellison and her family, along with numerous other characters, in and around 1881 London. The Ellisons are solidly middle class, but their upright neighborhood has been shaken by a series of grisly murders with no ending in sight. Enter Inspector Pitt, handsome, articulate, unkempt "workingclass" policeman on the case who instead turns Charlottes middle class world upside down in more ways than one. Lots of class clashes, great dialogue, and Perry tells the story from many perspectives which is really interesting and works great. Her period details are very good, and show more gives equal play to the good and the bad in everyone. I couldn't figure out "whodunit" till the very end, as it should be. You won't want to put this one down, and you *definitely* won't want to wait for the second book! show less

Inspector Thomas Pitt is assigned the case of the Cater Street Hangman. After two housemaids and a gentlewoman of the area are found garroted on Cater Street, Inspector Pitt has to interview the upper middle-class residents of the street.

Miss Charlotte Ellison and her family are residents. In her Victorian household, it is her father who makes the rules. One of his rules that his daughters not read the newspapers as the news is too unpleasant for ladies. Charlotte has taken to sneaking the newspapers from the butler's pantry so that she can find out what is happening. While outwardly obedient, she sometimes rebels against the constraints of her life.

Charlotte has an older sister Sarah who is married to a man Charlotte has fancied show more herself in love with since he first began courting her sister. She also has a younger sister named Emily who is determined to marry a man with a title. However, he has a reputation as a rogue and a gambler which makes Charlotte fear for her sister's future and reputation.

With an unknown killer stalking the neighborhood, suspicions begin to grow and they grow in Charlotte's house too. She wonders and fears that either her father or her brother-in-law could be the murderer. And she is not alone in her fears or suspicions. Her mother and her sisters share them. Both her mother and her sister Sarah begin to question how much they really know about the lives of the men they married.

Meanwhile, Pitt is visiting and questioning both Charlotte's father and brother-in-law and interviewing the servants too. During his frequent visits, he and Charlotte come to know and admire each other. But there seems to be little future for the two of them since he is not of her social class.

The story was filled with Victorian details and attitudes complete with a double standard regarding what men and women are allowed to do. Secrets exposed threaten the futures of her mother's and her sister's marriages. But then Sarah becomes another victim of the Hangman.

This was an entertaining mystery filled with vivid characters. show less

Some things I love about an Anne Perry series:

1. The books actually feel Victorian - as opposed to other fiction set in the Victorian era but with characters, dialogue and etc that feels very modern.

2. Modern attitudes about women are injected in a way that feels natural and not like "modern attitudes about women being injected by the author."

3. If you read the series straight through you can go on practically forever, and it turns out I do love a series that I can stay with for a good while.

This one started out promisingly enough, with fairly fleshed-out characters and a mystery that was neither obvious nor too convoluted. As a bonus, there were (to my recollection) zero descriptions of noses or mouths, something that drove me bananas show more in the Monk series. On to #2. show less