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A review by weaselweader
Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell
4.0
A thrilling race against London's hangman!
Captain Rider Sandman, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars and the Battle of Waterloo, has returned to England to find a civilian life in shambles. As a matter of personal honour, Sandman has sold his commission to raise cash to help repay a portion of the debts left behind by his disgraced father when he committed suicide. Now unemployed and with no income or prospects, his fiancée's family have cancelled their wedding plans and Sandman finds himself forced to lodge in an attic room in the Wheatsheaf Tavern in London's Drury Lane, a known criminal "flash" haunt of rather shady repute.
Charles Corday, an up and coming young artist and portrait painter to London's moneyed class, sits on death row in Newgate Prison awaiting imminent execution for the murder of the Countess of Avebury. His mother, a seamstress to Queen Charlotte has successfully begged the Queen's intervention to support a letter of petition for clemency or pardon asking the Home Secretary to investigate more carefully and to assure Her Majesty that justice is being done. Captain Sandman is surprised to find himself summoned to the Home Office to be granted the appointment as investigator. Of course, as a very upright, disciplined officer with an extremely well-established sense of duty and obligation, he takes the task much more seriously than the rather cynical instructions he received upon the appointment - "I suggest your work need not be laborious. There is no doubt of the man's guilt. Corday is a rapist, a murderer, and a liar, and all we need of him is a confession. You will find him in Newgate, and if you are sufficiently forceful then I have no doubt he will confess to his brutal crime and your work will then be done." I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that just isn't the way the story unfolds at all ...
A historical piece set in the height of the Regency period, GALLOWS THIEF is a thoroughly enjoyable lightweight mystery that will not fail to amuse Cornwell's legion of fans. Although not entirely devoid of narrative description, much of the flavour of the period is derived from other areas - the nature of the plot and the intense explanation of the judicial "process", imprisonment and hanging; a colourfully described side dish of London's recreational pursuits such as hunting, cricket and the theatre; absolutely sparkling, witty dialogue that is brilliantly differentiated depending on the class, wealth and occupation of the speaker and listener; the earthy, often racy, "flash" vocabulary of the criminal and lower class; the camaraderie of the military; the overbearing, stuffy sense of entitlement that is unique to London's wealthy gentry; the amorality, corruption and decadence of a London gentleman's club that is, in fact, a very sleazy bordello; and the politics of marriage.
Sandman's partners in the investigation - Sally Hood, an actress and nude model, Sergeant Rex Barrigan, also a veteran of the Battle of Waterloo and his ex-fiancée, Eleanor Forrest - are characterized brilliantly with an abundant serving of warmth, love, life and humour. We can but hope that they'll all make appearances in future novels penned by the very talented Bernard Cornwell. Two thumbs up!
Paul Weiss
Captain Rider Sandman, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars and the Battle of Waterloo, has returned to England to find a civilian life in shambles. As a matter of personal honour, Sandman has sold his commission to raise cash to help repay a portion of the debts left behind by his disgraced father when he committed suicide. Now unemployed and with no income or prospects, his fiancée's family have cancelled their wedding plans and Sandman finds himself forced to lodge in an attic room in the Wheatsheaf Tavern in London's Drury Lane, a known criminal "flash" haunt of rather shady repute.
Charles Corday, an up and coming young artist and portrait painter to London's moneyed class, sits on death row in Newgate Prison awaiting imminent execution for the murder of the Countess of Avebury. His mother, a seamstress to Queen Charlotte has successfully begged the Queen's intervention to support a letter of petition for clemency or pardon asking the Home Secretary to investigate more carefully and to assure Her Majesty that justice is being done. Captain Sandman is surprised to find himself summoned to the Home Office to be granted the appointment as investigator. Of course, as a very upright, disciplined officer with an extremely well-established sense of duty and obligation, he takes the task much more seriously than the rather cynical instructions he received upon the appointment - "I suggest your work need not be laborious. There is no doubt of the man's guilt. Corday is a rapist, a murderer, and a liar, and all we need of him is a confession. You will find him in Newgate, and if you are sufficiently forceful then I have no doubt he will confess to his brutal crime and your work will then be done." I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that just isn't the way the story unfolds at all ...
A historical piece set in the height of the Regency period, GALLOWS THIEF is a thoroughly enjoyable lightweight mystery that will not fail to amuse Cornwell's legion of fans. Although not entirely devoid of narrative description, much of the flavour of the period is derived from other areas - the nature of the plot and the intense explanation of the judicial "process", imprisonment and hanging; a colourfully described side dish of London's recreational pursuits such as hunting, cricket and the theatre; absolutely sparkling, witty dialogue that is brilliantly differentiated depending on the class, wealth and occupation of the speaker and listener; the earthy, often racy, "flash" vocabulary of the criminal and lower class; the camaraderie of the military; the overbearing, stuffy sense of entitlement that is unique to London's wealthy gentry; the amorality, corruption and decadence of a London gentleman's club that is, in fact, a very sleazy bordello; and the politics of marriage.
Sandman's partners in the investigation - Sally Hood, an actress and nude model, Sergeant Rex Barrigan, also a veteran of the Battle of Waterloo and his ex-fiancée, Eleanor Forrest - are characterized brilliantly with an abundant serving of warmth, love, life and humour. We can but hope that they'll all make appearances in future novels penned by the very talented Bernard Cornwell. Two thumbs up!
Paul Weiss