THE HANGMAN'S SECRET is Laura Joh Rowland's third installment into her Victorian Mystery series. The series follows. Sarah Bain, a photographer for London's The Daily World newspaper, and her friends Lord Hugh Stauton and Mick O'Reilley, private detectives.

Their new assignment calls them to the scene of England's top hangman, Harry Warbrick, also a local pub owner, who has been hanged and decapitated. The scene was one of the most gruesome the trio had yet to encounter. Was it coincidence that Harry suffered the fate that he had been ordered to execute on countless others?

While this is a part of a series, I read it as a standalone and was able to enjoy it fully. There are references to past events, however the author does a phenomenal job of recapping without being redundant.

The third book in this series is just as good as the previous books. The same cast of characters is trying to solve the mystery of the hangman's most gruesome murder and of course nothing is as simple as it seems. 1890 London is again the setting involving child murders, journalism, Newgate prison with a little bit of a f romance thrown in for good measure. A fun read.

Another solid entry in this series. It was nice that in addition to the mystery, all of the characters experience major changes in their personal relationships. This is a series I will keep coming back to again and again.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Laura Joh Rowland for the ARC of The Hangman's Secret.
This novel is a Victorian mystery set in 1890. I really enjoyed the story. I felt it was well written and kept my attention. Definitely a good book to snuggle up under a blanket with.

Thank you to Crooked Lane and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this arc.
I enjoyed this book, was well written, and the story flowed nicely.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this mystery in return for an honest review.
I enjoyed the historical setting of London in the 1890's and the complex storyline. I felt the story got off to a slow start, lagging in places. Its dangerous, tense, action packed finale more than made up for some slow sections. There was resolution for the the personal lives and careers of the investigators which had been in jeopardy.

I can't say I approved of their brash techniques in interviewing suspects and mistakes in heading off down wrong paths. Nevertheless their tireless efforts may lead to success. I found Sarah, a crime photographer for a newspaper, to be impulsive, indecisive, secretive and brave. She sometimes made bad decisions in her investigation, personal life and family matters, but was relentless in her pursuit of truth and justice. She has been hired by her wealthy employer at the newspaper to solve a hangman's murder before the police can do so. This complicates her romance with her lover, a policeman, and causes his superior officer to become her enemy.

Her detective crew consists of two friends; Mike, a young, tough former street urchin and Lord Harry Staunton, a disgraced member of high society. Mike, the former street kid, is hot tempered and tends to make emotional rather than rational judgements. His inability to control his mouth and fists often impedes interviews. Hugh seems the most steady, thoughtful and even tempered, but is compromised by his lifestyle.

The book works well as a stand-alone mystery novel, but there are frequent references to past events, investigations and characters. There is also a hint of a future search. I feel it will be interesting to read past books in the series and plan to do so. This book served as a good introduction to Sarah and her friends as they work finding solutions to past crimes referred to in this story.

Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC.

Set in London in the late 1890's, both the police and the press are struggling to find motive for the hangman's murder as well as finding his killer. Sarah Bain is a photographer for the Daily World newspaper, running her own detective agency on the side. She's a strong female lead, taking the reader through the story at a fast pace. Lines are crossed, the bounderies between press and police get blurry, both camps are competing for the truth. This is entertaining historical fiction, with an ending begging for more.

The ARC was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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The blurb of this was extremely interesting to me. A murder mystery involving a hangman? This had all the elements to make it a huge success.

Unfortunately, it fell short of the mark. The writing was all 'tell' and no 'show'. The characters fell flat and it was difficult to empathise with Sarah Bain, the main character (who's narrating in first person), when every emotion she felt was followed by a reason for her feeling that way. "I felt sad because..."
This type of sentence structure occurred countless times in the few chapters I managed to get through.

The dialogue was interrupted after every 2 sentences with paragraphs explaining backstory or setting or the characters' interrelationships. The recurring interruptions made it hard to follow to the dialogue and were extremely jarring during the whole reading experience.

I was not able to finish this due to all of the reasons listed above. Since this book will be published in 2019 and has a great premise, I would recommend improving the writing more.

Plot-wise there isn't much to say except that any interest I had in the story was gone due to the writing style. I think a lot of readers might enjoy this if they are alright with the writing. Unfortunately, I would only recommend this book to a few people.

Rating: 2/5 stars as I think the story is unique and could definitely be told better.
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Short review on Litsy:
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I enjoyed this mystery. It was well written and very detailed and descriptive. The plot and storyline was both entertaining and interesting. I highly recommend!