I'd like to thank NetGalley again for giving me the opportunity to read this book. Please understand that I don't like repeating the storyline and characters. I highly recommend this well written mystery. It was interesting and entertaining to read and I enjoyed it very much.

I seem to have an affinity for books with hangman in the title as this is the second one I've read this year. Also, full disclosure: I didn't realize this was the third in a series until I started reading and there were events I didn't know about. But, overall, this book does stand on its own if you also haven't read the first two books in the series. And The Hangman's Secret and The Victorian Mystery series is definitely worth checking out. Let's get to the review.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Photographer Sarah Bain and her friends Lord Hugh Staunton and sometime street urchin Mick O’Reilly are private detectives with a new gig—photographing crime scenes for London’s Daily World newspaper. The Daily World is the latest business venture of their sole client, Sir Gerald Mariner, a fabulously wealthy and powerful banker. 

One cold, snowy January morning, Sarah, Hugh, and Mick are summoned to the goriest crime scene they’ve ever encountered. A pub owner named Harry Warbrick has been found hanged and decapitated amid evidence of foul play. His murder becomes a sensation because he was England’s top hangman and he’s met the same fate that he inflicted on hundreds of criminals. 

Sir Gerald announces that the Daily World—meaning Sarah and her friends—will investigate and solve Harry Warbrick’s murder before the police do. The contest pits Sarah against the man she loves, Police Constable Barrett. She and her friends discover a connection between Harry Warbrick’s murder and the most notorious criminal he ever executed—Amelia Carlisle, the “Baby-Butcher,” who murdered hundreds of infants placed in her care. 

Something happened at Amelia’s execution. The Official Secrets Act forbids the seven witnesses present to divulge any information about it. But Harry had a bad habit of leaking tips to the press. Sarah and her friends suspect that one of the other witnesses killed Harry to prevent him from revealing a secret related to the execution. What is the secret, and who hanged the hangman?

The main character is Sarah Bain. She is a photographer for the local newspaper in London, The Daily World. She photographs crime scenes for the paper for Sir Gerald who she and her friends, Hugh and Mick, helped when his son went missing.  Besides being a photographer, Sarah and her friends (and roommates) also try to solve the crimes they photograph. The crime in this story is the hanging of the local hangman, Harry Warbrick. When someone was sent to death, he was the one to put the rope around their neck and pull the lever to hang them. But now Harry has been murdered (by hanging, because of course) and Sarah and her friends are looking to figure out who did it.

The Hangman's Secret also shows Sarah's journey to find her father. It's clear from the way it's talked about that Sarah has been looking for information on her father for awhile and she finds even more information about him and whether he's innocent of murder throughout the story. NO SPOILERS!

With her father missing for most of her life, Sarah had to rely on her mother and let's just say she wasn't winning any Parent of the Year awards either. She was a cruel woman who rarely had a nice word to say to Sarah. Sarah's only saving grace in terms of family is her half-sister, Sally. She is a sweet girl who works as a maid in a household nearby and she very much looks up to Sarah, much to her mother's disapproval. But despite Sally's mother trying to get in the way,  Sally and Sarah do have a relationship. They are both interested in their father, especially after Sally swears she sees him at the library. (He has been missing for many years after being accused of murder).

But Sarah isn't the only one with a tumultuous and complicated life. Her friend, Hugh (or Lord Stanton if you're fancy) is a gay man who is in a relationship with Sir Gerald's son Tristan. You can probably guess that Sir Gerald does not know his son is gay or that the guy he is employing is his lover. Hugh was outed publicly and disowned by his parents and most of his friends. He only has Tristan, Sarah, and Mick. And just for context: the Jack the Ripper murders happened not too long before this story began, so being gay is still a crime.

Mick is a 14-year-old pickpocket and petty thief who Sarah and Hugh found working on the streets. He now lives with Hugh and Sarah in their shared home/studio. He has a huge crush on an actress named Catherine who the trio have befriended. She is at least 4 years older than Mick, but that doesn't seem to bother him. He can wait. But, as they find out more about the killer, they also learn that Catherine is having a relationship with a married man. Mick, as well as Hugh and Sarah, are all distraught at this information.

Sarah, Hugh, and Mick, despite their complicated lives, work extremely well together to try and find what happened to Harry Warbrick and the incidents surrounding his murder. The police and the wardens at the jail do everything they can to stop them from finding things out but the three still persevere and ultimately find out who the murderer is. I can honestly say I was surprised by who it turned out to be. #nospoilers lol

The trio's thinking is that something occurred during the hanging of Amelia Carlisle. She killed hundreds of babies in a baby farming scheme and was sentenced to death. Sarah, Hugh, and Mick believe something fishy or unusual happened during that hanging and when another person who was at the hanging is murdered, they become even more determined to figure out what the hell happened in that room.

While they have plenty of obstacles along the way, they do have one in on the police force. Sarah's boyfriend/fiance, Barrett is a police constable. And while they tend to get information even before he does, he comes in handy when Sarah needs to travel on her own. He comes along with her and proves very useful when talking to the local police in small towns and when questioning people. He is very protective of Sarah and would prefer she didn't do the work she does, but he also rather know about it than have her lie to him which is what happens more often than now. While I wasn't a fan of Barrett's overprotectiveness, I loved when Sarah and he went on a journey together to try and find out more about what the motive was behind Warbrick's murder. It might have been my favorite part of the book.

One problem I did have with this story was Inspector Reid. Yes, every good mystery story needs a villain but we have that in the killer. What is the point of Reid being so cruel? His character fell flat to me because he seemed so one note. He was mean and nothing else. I didn't see how he served a purpose besides making the main characters (and me) pissed off and possibly threatening Barrett's job as he is his direct superior. I wanted him to be a little more well-rounded or have a reason for awfulness. Now, there could have been a reason in the first two books and if there is, forget this paragraph ever existed. But if there isn't, I would love to see his character have more depth in future books in the series.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Hangman's Secret. There are some great suspenseful scenes, especially toward the end when the murderer is revealed. I also really enjoyed how the relationship between Sarah and Barrett evolved. It felt very natural. They had their fights but they made up and fought for each other when they needed to.  I also loved the friendship between Sarah, Hugh, and Mick. They are so supportive of each other in every part of their lives even when they think the other is making the wrong decision. I enjoyed how well they worked off of one another. It can be difficult to find a group of friends highlighted in a book the way these three are. With all that said, I am giving The Hangman's Secret by Laura Joh Rowland 3 out of 5 stars.

The Hangman's Secret comes out January 18, 2019 (I know. Quite a long wait on this one.)

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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:
Book is not available in Litsy's catalogue.

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!