The Cater Street Hangman
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.... (wikipedia)
I've known of this series for a long time, and never got around to reading it - partly I wanted to get the first book (this one) and just never got around to it.... finally I spotted it (via Overdrive) on my library e-books.
Nice book, interesting story, once it started moving. I felt the painting of the mannered Victorian setting slowed things down, though I enjoyed the details she painted of the era and I look forward to reading more in the series.
