| The Cater Street Hangman | |
| Author: | Anne Perry |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Series: | Inspector Pitt Mysteries |
| Genre: | Crime fiction |
| Publisher: | Robert Hale (UK) St. Martin's Press (US) |
| Pub Date: | 1979 |
| Media Type: | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages: | 247 (First Edition, Hardcover) |
| Isbn: | 0-345-51356-8 |
| Oclc: | 232980345 |
| Followed By: | Callander Square |
The Cater Street Hangman is a crime novel by Anne Perry. It is the first in a series which features the husband-and-wife team of Thomas and Charlotte Pitt.
The Cater Street Hangman introduces Inspector Thomas Pitt and Charlotte Ellison, who both become regular characters in crime novels by Anne Perry. Set in 1881, the story follows an investigation into the murders of several young women in the streets near the wealthy Ellison family home.[1]
Throughout the Thomas Pitt series, Perry uses the names of real neighbourhoods in London as titles of the novels.[1]
In an upper-class salon on Cater Street, several women discuss, in oblique terms, the death of a local girl. Even though Susannah has recently been out of town and is unaware of the murder, it is bad form for proper women to talk about such matters and so they are careful not to say anything too direct about the way the daughter of a friend was garroted and cut open. Finally, tiring of the game, Charlotte comes out and tells her aunt what she has heard about the murder. Although the victim was of the upper class she quickly gains a reputation as having been a bad seed.
A second death occurs, this time a servant. Again the idea that these women did something to deserve this end is easier to accept than the knowledge that it could happen to anyone else. Only when the third murder happens to a member of the Ellison household do they believe that these crimes might not be a simple case of robbery or jealousy. A young police inspector, Thomas Pitt, has been investigating these crimes and soon arrives to question the Ellison household.
Pitt is the educated son of a gamekeeper and cook. His education and manners let him wander in upper-class circles, while his dress and impolite tactics keep them from becoming entirely comfortable with him. Although Pitt aspires to higher social standing, he requests that he be treated as a middle class working man. None of this endears the inspector to Caroline Ellison, the lady of the house and mother of Sarah, Emily and Charlotte Ellison.[1]
Pitt uses pointed questions and little tact to find the information he needs. He often knows the answers to questions before he speaks and so puts everyone off-guard as they attempt to keep their secrets hidden. Before long, every female suspects every male of being the hangman, much to the detriment of long-standing marriages and relationships.
As the investigation into who is killing the young women progresses, Thomas falls in love with the unconventional Charlotte. Outwardly, Charlotte is a model of Victorian society, but she does not wish to become one of the mindless women she sees every day. Instead, she reads newspapers that are smuggled out of her father's sight and speaks her mind on all manner of subjects. She finds out more about the world beyond her door when she meets Thomas and finds that he will engage her in useful and interesting discussions.[1]
Anne Perry wrote The Cater Street Hangman as a single, stand alone, novel. She had not intended for it to become a series and so there are elements in this book which do not blend smoothly into the series.[1] [2]
assistant in the investigation.
Anne Perry's first published novel was well received in the United States for its historically accurate setting, focus on social issues and its intricate character relationships.[3] Enthusiastic reviews helped spread her readership, but it wasn't until many years later that she gained fame in her home country of England.
"An ingenious mystery and an excellent example of manners and caste systems of the Victorian era." The Chattanooga Times
In 1998 Ardent Productions produced a made-for-television film version of the book in association with Yorkshire Television. It was broadcast on ITV in Britain on 23 September 1998, and on A&E in the United States. The film departed slightly from the novel, dwelling less on seamy motives, and having a slightly different ending.