THE CATER STREET HANGMAN
Anne Perry, Charlotte and Thomas Pitt #1
Anne Perry wrote another murder mystery series featuring Charlotte and Thomas Pitt. In the first book of the series, The Cater Street Hangman, the two were not an item. Charlotte Ellison lived with her wealthy family in an elite part of London. She was forbidden to read the newspaper, however, her father often left it lying out, and she would sneak a read as much as possible. After all, her father reasoned, the contents of the newspaper were not suitable for young ladies to read.
Sarah Ellison had married Dominic a year before, and even though she had come to terms with her infatuation with Dominic and her sister’s marriage, Charlotte retained a slight “crush” on him. Both Dominic and Sarah become dominant characters as this mystery unfolds. Grandmama also maintains a high level of importance, and Charlotte values Grandmama’s knowledge of all the exciting things and people of the past: Waterloo and Napoleon; the Crimea; scandals of the royals; and Florence Nightingale. This series is set in the 1880s, and Thomas Pitt comes into the scene when a second local woman is found in a neighboring street, hideously and brutally murdered.
Ms. Perry again tastefully describes the class differences in this series – the elite and wealthy, the household servants, as well as the public servants such as the police – and she does it so as not to leave any questions in your mind as to who is important and who is not.
Up Next: A is for Alibi, by Sue Grafton
Harriet Engle, a Staff Assistant at the Manheim Community Library, is an avid reader of several authors who write murder mystery series. Look for her weekly reviews highlighting each of these series.
Note: If you decide to start one of the series being reviewed and wish to read the next in the series, go to www.fantasticfiction.com, type in the author, and scroll down to see which book was written next under that series. The Manheim Community Library may not have the book you want, but staff will be happy to order it for you from another library.
You can also find and request the next book in the series right from the LSLC catalog. Search the book you have just read from the search bar at the top right of manheimlibrary.org. Click on the title to open up the book information and then scroll down to the section marked “Series”. At a glance, you can see the series and where the book you searched is in the series. For series of more than 14 titles, click on the button below that says “See Full Series”. To request another title from this section, just click on the cover and it will take you to the screen to request a copy from the Library System of Lancaster County to be delivered to Manheim Community Library (or another library in the LSLC.)