On a freezing Christmas Eve in 1879, a forensic psychic reader is summoned from her Baker Street lodgings to the scene of a questionable death. Alexandrina Victoria Pendlebury (named after her godmother, the current Queen of England) is adamant that the death in question is a magically compromised murder and not a suicide, as the police had assumed, after the shocking revelation contained by the body in question, Alex must put her personal loss aside to uncover the deeper issues at stake, before more bodies turn up.

Turning to some choice allies—the handsome, prescient Lieutenant Brooks, the brilliant, enigmatic Lord Desmond, and her rapscallion cousin James—Alex will have to marshal all of her magical and mental acumen to save Queen and Country from a shadowy threat. Our singular heroine is caught up in this rousing gaslamp adventure of cloaked assassins, meddlesome family, and dark magic.

IN A NUTSHELL
That was great fun. It was a book that I returned to eagerly each day. A fast-paced plot. Original ideas. A few surprises along the way and a strong, relatable female lead. It was a romp in the best possible way. It took itself seriously. The alternate Victorian London it built made sense. All the action happened within a couple of days. Through the many action set-pieces, the intrigues and the puzzle-solving the story remained focused on our heroine’s emotional journey. I wish there had been a sequel.

I’m sorry to say that this book languished in my TBR for SIX YEARS. I don’t know how that came about. Perhaps it’s that neither the cover nor the title are particularly compelling. The important thing is that I was missing out on a really fun read..

Sometimes books set in an alternate version of history can take a while to find their feet. ‘The Hanged Man‘ pulled me in from the first page. I was propelled through the first two chapters by the mystery and by the artfully dropped details of how this alternate Victorian London worked. I knew immediately that this was going to be a romp of an adventure with a solid mystery at its heart.

The rapid pace of the action in the first quarter of the book swept me along. I was impressed by the author’s ability to deliver so much vivid, exciting action and still sketch a plausible alternate Victorian London and make the lead character, Alex Pendlebury, engaging.

By the middle of the book, I was rooting for Alex She was clever, brave and absolutely determined not to let the men around her get in her way. She made the perfect heroine for me to cheer for as she negotiated the twists and turns of this ripping yarn. She confronted monsters, some human, some not so much. She found secret passages. She disguised herself and penetrated the heart of the bad guys’ lair. She built alliances and stood up to authority and when violence was needed, she never hesitated in delivering it. And she did all of this while mourning the violent death of her father.

Many alternate history mysteries reach for that larger-than-life, Indiana Jones meets Sherlock Holmes sort of gothic adventure but very few succeed. This book hit the mark. The mystery was twisty but solid. The characters were both believable and surprising. The monsters were original and quite scary.

I think this would make a great TV series. I’m surprised none of the streaming companies have picked it up and expanded on it. Maybe someone needs to turn it into a graphic novel before they’ll see it’s potential.