Dark deeds and vengeance in this gripping revenge thriller set in 1820 Leeds, a West Yorkshire market town that grew into a major manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution, with all the attendant ills of poverty, crime and pollution.
Simon Westow survived a childhood spent in the workhouse, using the anger and anguish to fuel a burning ambition. He's now "respectable," with a house and money in the bank, and a wife and family. He's established a reputation as a thief-taker; someone who finds stolen property for a fee, and sometimes assists the victim of the theft in prosecuting the thief. This is what passes for justice in England in 1820.
Simon is particularly fortunate in acquiring the services of Jane, his assistant. A damaged soul, Jane learned early to do whatever she has to in order to survive on her own on the cold, unforgiving streets of the city.
Now Simon has been hired to find wealthy mill owner John Milner's kidnapped daughter Hannah. The man who is holding the girl wants 1,000 pounds to return her unharmed. If the ransom is not paid, he will return her, but not unharmed and (Simon suspects) not alive either. When Simon fails to find Hannah before the ransom must be paid, Milnor bids him to get both Hannah and the ransom money back if he wants to salvage his fee.
Desperately searching for some trace of Hannah or the money, Simon and Jane find themselves following a maze through the dark underbelly of Leeds that takes them in an entirely unsuspected direction: into the past and a dangerous enemy they thought was good as dead.
The first in a projected series of murder mysteries set in Regency Leeds. Nickson is the author of two other mystery series set in his home town of Leeds: the Inspector Tom Harper mysteries (1890s) and the Richard Nottingham series (1730s), and other books.
Click HERE to see a Youtube trailer for The Hanging Psalm.
Click HERE to read a review from Kirkus Reviews.
Click HERE to read a review from Publishers Weekly.
Click HERE to read a review from the Classic Mystery Blog.
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