When the days get shorter, the night chillier and you want to crawl under the blankets and devour something sinister and still comforting Gallows Court fits that bill.
It's 1930 London; The headless corpse of a young woman is found. This grisly murder is soon followed by many, many more. And we dive into a sinister web of secret societies, corruption, London back alleys and glitzy nightlife, magic, upper-class depravity, and clever twists. Threaded throughout is a cat and mouse game between an elegant, intelligent and impressive upper-class woman called Rachel Savernake and a modest but persistent journalist named Jacob Flint. Jacob is the typical rookie, put on the crime desk after his former colleague was run off the road, whose life now hangs by a thread.
The main story is interspersed by diary fragments where a young girl living on some ghastly damp and deserted island is convinced that Rachel Savernake is a budding sociopath responsible for her parent's death.
Even is the mystery is contorted, and twisty, the plot is quite straightforward, people die in all kinds of horrifying ways, and Rachel somehow seems to know more than everybody else. Is she an amateur sleuth, already with one conviction on her belt, or is she the perpetrator?
Jacob takes every opportunity to spar with her, although he seems to be more of an irritating yappy chihuahua chasing a cheetah. So is she a murderer? Or does she send her trusted servant to do the dirty deeds for her? And why would she do that? And what has her father, a famous hanging judge to do with all of it?
It's a richly atmospheric read that permeated my daily London life; I walked around town without being able to shake the descriptions. I did figure some of it out before the ending, but that's something that unfortunately happens when you read thrillers regularly. I am sure Gallows Court will keep most of his readers on its toes, and the final explanation is worthy of a typical Hercule Poirot report. Take it in by a roaring fire.
Pre-order it now, it arrives the 6th of September
