The Cater Street Hangman (Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Series Book 1)

I don't know what literary rock I have been hiding under, but Anne Perry's Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series has just come on my radar. Ms. Perry is an extremely prolific writer, producing 32 books in this series to date (written from 1979-2016). In addition, she has written another Victorian mystery series featuring William Monk, and numerous other books and short story collections. To make things even more interesting, Ms. Perry was convicted of participating in the murder of her best friend's mother. They were both sentenced to 5 years in prison. She was 15 years old at the time. The two girls had a rather obsessive relationship and killed the mother to prevent the family from moving away. If this sounds vaguely familiar, the movie Heavenly Creatures was based on the friendship and murder. So, fertile ground for a writer of mysteries.The Cater Street Hangman is the first in the series of books featuring Thomas Pitt and Charlotte Ellison. It is set in 1881. Young women, both above and below stairs, are being garroted on Cater Street, a wealthy London neighborhood. Charlotte is the middle daughter in the Ellison family and is the most unconventional. Her older sister Sarah is married and proper. Younger sister Emily is a master at the social arts and aims to marry above her station. Charlotte cannot hold her tongue, hates hypocrisy and social rules, and is interested in unladylike things such as current events. Enter Inspector Pitt, who is barely tolerated by the upper class. Verbal and romantic sparks fly between Thomas and Charlotte, as she finds she has an interest in detective work. And she worries about the safety of her sisters and other young women, as murder gets very close to her home.While I figured out the guilty party about mid-way through the book, I still enjoyed it. It is a good page-turner and is easily read in a sitting or two. The ending was quite abrupt, which I did not like. I thought the chapter ended, but it was actually the end of the book! I would also have liked a more in-depth explanation of the murder's motives and psychological make-up. However, I recognize that is not the point of these books. I really enjoyed the Victorian London atmosphere and all the class and social rules. In addition to the mystery, this book explores the consequences of marrying outside your station (above and below) and the subservient role of women. At least subservient on the surface. Charlotte and Emily certainly know how to use their wit and charm to get what they want.I am not sure that I will read all 32 books in this series, but I did purchase 8 of them for $1.99 each for the Kindle. So, I am off to read book 2--Callander Square.

Anne Perry’s  The Cater Street Hangman (Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Series Book 1)  is one of the more uncommon murder mysteries that I’ve ever read. I call it a murder mystery because I’m not sure that I can properly call it a detective novel. The protagonist is a feisty young lady who hardly more than accidentally makes discoveries relevant to the case, and the actual police detective does almost nothing on the stage of the novel except question said young lady, who is not, as it happens, the murderer. The detective does not make use of any forensic evidence, nor is he shown interviewing suspects other than the ones in the protagonist Charlotte’s family. The detective, Inspector Thomas Pitt, is eminently likeable and clearly hardworking, but his work seems irrelevant. In the end, the case isn’t really solved—the murderer merely attacks the wrong person at the wrong time and is finally caught. So in this murder mystery, the plot action is carried along purely by circumstances, not by actual deduction. Despite this, Perry does a fine job of keeping the pace taut, a significant feat for this genre.The one other detrimental factor, an actual flaw in the book as opposed to merely a unique way of handling murder mystery plotting, is that Perry switches perspectives unevenly. In the first few chapters, some are told from a limited-omniscient perspective focused on Charlotte, others are LO focused on her sister Emily, and still others on their mother. Then the rest of the novel, except for sections from the brother-in-law Dominic’s perspective, is Charlotte’s LO point of view. I’m not sure what Perry could have done to fix this problem, but since none of the chapters are in first-person and most of the novel is devoted to Charlotte, the multiple points of view make for choppy and confusing reading until Charlotte’s story finally stays on center stage.Since the novel isn’t actually about detective work, what is it about? As with all good murder mysteries, it is about human nature. This novel is worth reading for its rich insights about human nature, marriage, infidelity, conflict, forgiveness, and sibling rivalry alone, never mind the enjoyable characters and dark suspense. Additionally, the Victorian setting is intriguing, and Perry actually makes use of her setting, rather than making it a mere backdrop. She vividly illustrates some of the nuanced challenges that women faced during this time period.What would Aristotle and John Keats say? In terms of truth and beauty, this novel is elegantly-written and filled with engaging plot and characters. Perry is remarkable in her ability to insightfully communicate truths about human nature. The greatness of content of this work would have to refer to the truths about human nature, not the less-than-complex plot, but I think a case can be made for it. The greatness of execution is well-served by Perry’s literate prose, but poorly served by the uneven point-of-view shifts. As for the strange case of the absent or irrelevant detective in this story, I think that Pitt and Charlotte might prove to be a very formidable detective team in the next novel in the series, actually solving cases rather than merely discussing them, now that their characters have been set up. I have high hopes for this, anyway.

I have concluded that the reason to read Anne Perry is not for the mystery but for the revelations of Victorian England, both in society and those in extreme poverty. If you like procedurals, Anne Perry won't give you that. I gave it a three because it is well written and does carefully probe the exactitudes as of English society in the Victorian era. I dropped point due to the lack of "solving" a mystery and because some of the introspective aspects of the characters seemed overdone and consumed pages I thought would have been better served by some actual police work.In this case, I knew fairly soon who to suspect by a careful hint, but the way in which the culprit was caught seemed to be by chance, not by a sense of procedure or detection. I never got the sense that Inspector Pitt knew who to arrest until the very end when events made it clear.

I must admit that I spent most of this novel with a frown as I couldn't take to Charlotte no matter how much I tried. I found her hostile, argumentative and not a very likeable character. She did improve in the last half of the story, but by then her character was set in my mind.This was quite a good story, although I'd worked out who the Cater Street Hangman was someway before the end although I didn't know the why of it. That was interesting.I did like Inspector Pitt except in 1881 he wouldn't have said two and a half pence. I'm always amazed how some authors get the English currency wrong, although being a child of the old system I know it can be very complicated. He should have said tuppence halfpenny (pronounced hay-penny). Just like Mary Poppins sings 'tuppence a bag' in her song 'Feed the Birds'.I'm happy to give three stars for this story as it was intriguing and the other characters, Sarah, Emily, Dominic and many others were well drawn.

I read this book as it was my book club read for the month. Not my personal choice, but it was an experience.Solving murders in Victorian England was very different from today’s with its forensic science assistance. When a serial killer is garrotting women in the local area, hoping to catch the killer in their murderous act seems to be the best they can hope for. Hoping the killer will confess after being asked repeatedly seems to be another plan.The women of this time were supposed to be seen and not heard. Women were expected to behave according to social norms and be fragile, delicate and keep their thoughts to themselves.Then we are introduced to Charlotte. She is the middle of three daughters and she does not intend to keep quiet but speaks her mind and usually ends up in trouble with her family for doing so. When one of the family’s maids is killed, Inspector Thomas Pitt has the excuse to spend more and more time at the family home, speaking to the family. However it is clear that he is interested in Charlotte, admiring her for her quick thinking and her inability to hide her emotions. It is not long before Charlotte’s sister Emily is aware of the Inspector’s interest.The slow pace of the book was annoying at first but eventually it seemed to suit the book. Ideal for anyone who enjoys historical murder mysteries, there are another sixteen books in this series.

Having done things backwards and read the later T P books first , finally, I get to read the very first one. Charlotte and Emily...did Anne Perry name them after the Bronte sisters ? There is also an older sister named Sara about whom I cannot say more due to spoiler. I have noticed from other reviews that Charlotte did not appeal to many. For me I like her ,though I do agree with others who felt she was aggressive. I think this was due to boredom. Her intelligence needed feeding and she was not getting the sort of feeding she required. Unfortunately her father stopped her reading the daily newspapers which would have gone a long way in giving her brain the reading matter she yearned for. She had to resort to sneakily reading her brother in laws newspaper, thus developing fonder feelings for him than she should have had. It paled when the real thing came along in the shape of Pitt. What a pity her father had the attitude he had with regards to her interests. He could have had wonderful discussions with her but being the way he was, he never knew what he missed out on. Emily was intent on marrying a man with money, position and the bonus...a title. ! Their mother seemed to have to put up with alot whilst their grandmother was full of bitterness. This household appeared typical but underneath was full of inner conflict and consequently, great for future stories. Looking forward to number two book !

I freely admit it has taken me many months to come around to rediscovering this among numerous Victorian era detective tales I purchased, and I’m glad I did.At first, I was seemingly befuddled by the apparent lack of spotlight upon Inspector Pitt and his endeavours, but soon found myself enveloped in the life of Charlotte and her family as they endured the events which unfolded around them.I think the discovery and contemplation of both personal and socially troubling issues from the perspective of differing household members worked quite well to give a rounded experience for me and I’m looking forward to the next in the series now.My thanks to the author for a thoroughly enjoyable read.

I had trouble even getting through the first few pages of this book. The female protagonist has no agency. It is extremely difficult to develop any sympathy for her when the author has failed to giver her a pair of "big girl pants". I mean come on, her daddy reads the newspaper to her so she doesn't get overwhelmed by anything shocking in the news? And she's secretly nursing a crush on her sister's husband? It’s time to move out of your parents house and be a big girl Charlotte. This is like a Victorian Millennial novel, now that's a genre I never expected. Sorry, but having a such a weak female MC is a huge flaw. I got off this bus real fast and actually got a refund from Amazon.