Review: The Secret Hangman

‘The Secret Hangman’ is the latest in Lovesey’s detective Peter Diamond series, set in Bath, England. A woman’s body is found hanging from a swing and it soon becomes clear that it was murder, not suicide. When more hangings take place around the city, Diamond realises that the situation is very serious – but with woman trouble, will he take his eye off the ball?

There is no doubt that ‘The Secret Hangman’ is a very British police procedural. It has an authentic atmosphere and the choice of Bath as a setting is, as ever, excellent. Very few English towns can appear more genteel and respectable than Bath, but its upper-class atmosphere is, fictionally at least, regularly sullied by spates of murders. The novel remains firmly in the ‘whodunit’ mode. However, rather than the mystery being solved by solid police work, it is actually more through chance and coincidence. This appears rather an unfair twist, even if it does give Lovesey further opportunities to develop Diamond’s character, giving him a love interest for the first time since the murder of his wife in a previous novel. Diamond clearly has enormous potential, despite having been the protagonist in numerous previous novels.

Despite the defect in the plot, the tale is an interesting one and one of Lovesey’s triumphs is his dialogue between his characters. He successfully creates the atmosphere of a police investigation and, overall, the novel feels authentic, even down to the small touches of humour included from time to time. The pace is far from urgent, despite the murders being committed, but this does make a pleasant change from the hardboiled, fast and furious novels on the market today. It is true that the novel could have been a bit tighter, but fans of the Peter Diamond series will probably not be disappointed.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Luke Croll - RAM

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.

Book Review: The Secret Hangman

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.