Gallows Thief

Rider Sandman, Waterloo veteran and first-class cricket player, is in desperate need of money. But when the Home Secretary offers him a job, he’s incredulous: his assignment is to investigate the recent sensational murder of the Countess of Avebury. A young painter, Charles Corday, has been convicted of the murder and is now in Newgate prison; but the Queen, with whom Corday is connected, is uneasy about his fate and wants to be reassured of his guilt. When Sandman visits Corday, however, he quickly becomes convinced that the painter is innocent. Now he must track down the only witness to the crime to save Corday from the gallows; but his investigation soon ruffles the feathers of some very influential people, including members of the show more sinister Seraphim Club.

The problem with this book is that it was, in essence, a sermon about the evils of the death penalty. I felt like the plot was completely secondary to Cornwell’s message – it’s cruel and terrible to hang criminals, and the aristocracy is cruel and terrible for being so rich when others are so poor. I’m not expressing an opinion one way or the other on those positions, but I hate novels that are overly burdened with politics. Gallows Thief comes off as self-righteous and preachy, where all the good characters are appalled by the injustice of it all, and all the ignorant and evil characters favor capital punishment. That said, the mystery plot was fairly entertaining, and I thought Sandman was a great, admirable character. But unless you’re really interested in the execution of criminals in Regency England, I’d skip this one. show less

This is likely my favorite book that I've read by Bernard Cornwell.
Although he always writes well-researched historical novels, many of
them are just a little bit too masculine and military-focused for my
taste. With this historical mystery set in 19th century London, he
achieves a more balanced milieu.
Rider Sandman returns to London a veteran of the Battle of Waterloo
expecting the respect given a military hero. However, he finds that in
his absence, his father gambled the family fortune away, and then
committed suicide, leaving him penniless and with an indelible stain
upon his reputation. To make things worse, his mother and sister
expect him to keep them in their accustomed idle and luxurious
lifestyle - they can't even imagine the shame of show more becoming working
women.
On top of all this, Sandman's planned wedding seems to definitely be off.
Sandman's only source of income is now to play cricket matches -
something he's luckily good at. But is certainly not enough money to
sustain him, and so when Lord Sidmouth recommends him for a job, he's
quick to take it. It seems an easy commission - a portrait painter is
accused of raping and murdering a wealthy lady as she sat for her
portrait. It's sure that he's guilty, but an investigation needs to be
done - purely as a formality - before the man can be hanged.
Unfortunately, when Rider embarks upon his investigation, he quickly
becomes certain that the portrait painter is innocent. For one thing,
he's gay, so it seems very unlikely he would have murdered a woman in
a crime of passion, as it is being alleged. For another thing, the
maid who would have been able to confirm the painter's alibi has
mysteriously disappeared.
Against Lord Sidmouth's wishes, the upright and honest Sandman
involves himself in a race against time to discover the truth before
the young painter is hanged...
Lots of dramatic tension and unexpected plot twists keep the book
exciting, as Cornwell takes the reader on a tour of the gritty,
realistic underside of London's criminal justice system. show less

A roaring concoction of Regency England, mixing murder mystery with cricket in long coats and high stocks. Cornwell captures the seaminess of London at this time without losing the excitement of the social melange.

Captain Rider Sandman is down on his luck. His father, Ludovic Sandman, after swindling a number of people of large amounts of money and losing all his own fortune, had committed suicide leaving his family with a disgraced name and no money. This catastrophe caused Rider to sell his army commission to provide a modest home for his mother and sister, and forced his beloved fiancee Eleanor to break off their engagement at the insistance of her mother. His two consolations are cricket, from which he derived a small income, and his clubfooted friend, the Rev. Lord Alexander Pleydell. Things were about to change.

Cornwell has deftly woven a delightful who-done-it set mostly in London two years after Waterloo. This is by far the most show more lighthearted Cornwell novel I have come across, but it still offers a rich plot, strong characterizations, suspense, and enough twists and turns to keep me guessing until the end. I loved it! show less

Rider Sandman is a hero of Waterloo, a cricket champion and former army Captain who sold his commission to pay off his father's gambling debts. In the bargain he has lost his fiancee because he is no longer good enough for her family. He is hired to investigate whether a man sentenced to hang is actually guilty of the murder of a Countess. Gallows Thief is not so gritty as the Sharpe series, except for descriptions of the executions and prison system in Britain. It will likely have broader appeal as it has enough romance to appeal to gentler readers. Unlike Sharpe, Sandman is an educated man and a gentleman despite his diminished circumstances. Parts do become tedious and repetitious as Sandman keeps running into the same obstacles show more which take a while to get resolved. All in all a worthwhile adventure, which has the potential to become a series. show less

I would categorize this novel as a 'follow-along' or 'solve-along' historical mystery. There is no big reveal where we're stumped we didn't see it coming. That's also not the point or purpose of the book. We're invited to live-along a number of people who lived during extraordinary times in history and through the way its told we get a glimpse of what it might have been like to have been there. All of this is wrapped in an entertaining story that will propel you along all the events and characters laid out for us in a nicely digestible feast. This novel is about immersion, it's about being there and seeing what the characters saw.

Quite the gritty story, set in post-Napoleanic London at a time when the justice system was venal and uncaring. Executions were frequently by hanging and a source of enthusiastic public spectacles.
Having forgotten that I read this story about 10 years ago, it now strikes me that many passages are quite repetitious. The ending was predictable, which takes away from building suspense. Prolonged chases to track down the main witness were tedious, since by then it seemed a bit pointless.
The story had a serious flaw in that the central theme upon which the mystery revolved was nonsensical: the murderer was wealthy and had covered his tracks perfectly adequately for the times. I admired the main protagonist (as I did in the first reading), show more which is a plus. The author's historical notes at the end were illuminating of the times and very useful to put the novel's setting in perspective. show less