Product Description

"An ingenious mystery and an excellent example of manners and caste systems of the Victorian era."
THE CHATTANOOGA TIMES
While the Ellison girls were out paying calls and drinking tea like proper Victorian ladies, a maid in their household was strangled to death. The quiet and young Inspector Pitt investigates the scene and finds no one above suspicion. As his intense questioning causes many a composed facade to crumble, Pitt finds himself couriously drawn to pretty Charlotte Ellison. Yet, a romance between a society girl and so unsuitable a suitor was impossible in the midst of a murder....

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #271287 in Books
• Published on: 1985-10-12
• Released on: 1985-10-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 288 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780449208670
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Publisher
I have been to many many Anne Perry bookstore events throughout this country and at every single event the same question gets asked: when is one of your books going to be made into a TV series? Well, fans everywhere, the good news is that this fall in England a two-hour pilot will air on ITV based on THE CATER STREET HANGMAN. And then in early December finally finally finally it will air in the United States on A&E. THE CATER STREET HANGMAN is Anne Perry's first book and features William Pitt and Charlotte. I can't wait to see the Victorian costumes and the characters that I love come to life on the TV screen.

Kim Hovey, VP & Director of Publicity

From the Inside Flap
"An ingenious mystery and an excellent example of manners and caste systems of the Victorian era."
THE CHATTANOOGA TIMES
While the Ellison girls were out paying calls and drinking tea like proper Victorian ladies, a maid in their household was strangled to death. The quiet and young Inspector Pitt investigates the scene and finds no one above suspicion. As his intense questioning causes many a composed facade to crumble, Pitt finds himself couriously drawn to pretty Charlotte Ellison. Yet, a romance between a society girl and so unsuitable a suitor was impossible in the midst of a murder....

From AudioFile
Set in Victorian England, this 1979 novel introduced Inspector Thomas Pitt and the socially privileged Charlotte Ellison (later Pitt), who would appear together in 18 subsequent novels. Davina Porter, who has performed several other works of Anne Perry, gives an accomplished reading of this story about the search for a serial strangler on the gas-lit streets. Porter's performance is a pleasure for the listener--sensitive, subtle and elegant--as the characters unravel the mystery of the hangman amid the manners and social constrictions of Victorian life. S.E.S. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Thundering good read!
I was aware of Anne Perry's historical mysteries and assumed I would not be interested in them since in general I prefer more contemporary mysteries. Then I saw A&E's production of The Cater Street Hangman and was captivated by it. I immediately bought the book and found it to be even better than the TV version - the characters have more depth and the plot is tighter and more credible. Anne Perry has a wonderful knack for creating characters. I feel as though I know (and like) Charlotte Ellison and Thomas Pitt. Charlotte is a wonderful creation: she speaks her mind, almost unheard of in the Victorian well-to-do world she inhabits. Thomas Pitt is an equally interesting creation and seeing the two of them pass beyond instant dislike to attraction and admiration for each other is very entertaining. We SO want them to get together. This is edge-of-the seat stuff which, together with all the wonderful details of life in Victorian London and an intelligent love affair, makes for a thundering good read!

The book that revived the historical mystery.
What plot! What a setting! What characters! Anne Perry started a revolution with this book, the first in her Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series (Charlotte is not "Pitt" yet in this book). When murder disturbs the elite and proper world of the Ellison family, the cracks begin to show in the family's heretofore placid exterior. Family members start to look at each other with fear and doubt, and suspicion is as frightening as truth.

Perry's depiction of Victorian England is detailed and fascinating--she is as knowledgeable of upper-class life as she is of the working-class. Her characters are realistic and sympathetic, and the kicker of an ending in this book is the sort that has become her trademark.

You cannot call yourself a fan of the historical mystery without reading this book.

I loved it!
This is the first Anne Perry mystery I have read and I wanted to begin with the first Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novel so that I could read them in order if I chose to continue with the series. I just loved it! It was a book that was almost impossible for me to put down. That phrase is used so often in reviews that I hesitate to use it but nothing else comes close to describing how truly absorbed I became in this story.

Other reviewers have covered the plot so I will only say that I found everything I am looking for in a period mystery in this novel. I had no idea who the killer was up until the reveal and then could only marvel at how ingenious this author is in her thinking. I had suspected someone else of the crimes but was wholly satisfied with Perry's results. That says a lot coming from a longtime mystery reader.

If there was a tiny niggle, it would be that Charlotte did not get quite enough time to realize that her feelings for Pitt were changing. But in the end, who cares? All's well that ends up with them becoming a team. I can't wait to dig into Callander Square, I just have to find a good clear space of time to be totally uninterrupted.