The Hangman's Secret

The Hangman's Secret is the 23rd novel by Laura Joh Rowland and the third entry in the Sarah Bain series. It was originally published on January 8, 2019 by Crooked Lane Books. The previous novel in the series was A Mortal Likeness and the next is The Woman in the Veil. 
== Synopsis ==
"Photographer Sarah Bain and her friends Lord Hugh Staunton and sometime street urchin Mick O'Reilly are private detectives with a new gig—photographing crime scenes for London's Daily World newspaper. The Daily World is the latest business venture of their sole client, Sir Gerald Mariner, a fabulously wealthy and powerful banker.
One cold, snowy January morning, Sarah, Hugh, and Mick are summoned to the goriest crime scene they've ever encountered. A pub owner named Harry Warbrick has been found hanged and decapitated amid evidence of foul play. His murder becomes a sensation because he was England's top hangman and he's met the same fate that he inflicted on hundreds of criminals.
Sir Gerald announces that the Daily World—meaning Sarah and her friends—will investigate and solve Harry Warbrick's murder before the police do. The contest pits Sarah against the man she loves, Police Constable Barrett. She and her friends discover a connection between Harry Warbrick's murder and the most notorious criminal he ever executed—Amelia Carlisle, the "Baby-Butcher,"" who murdered hundreds of infants placed in her care.
What deadly secret did Harry Warbrick know, and who hanged the hangman?
== Dedication ==
"To Marty"
Marty is Rowland's husband.
== Plot ==
=== Chapter 1 ===
Sarah Bain is awoken by a rapping on her door. A man informs her that a crime scene has happened on Fashion Street. After she dresses, she meets Mick O'Reilly downstairs. Mick is already prepared and has woken Hugh Staunton. While they wait for Hugh, Sarah and Mick gather her photography equipment. Once Hugh joins them, they leave their home and travel to Fashion Street.
The crime that happened took place at a pub called The Ropemaker's Daughter. Police Constable Thomas Barrett is already there with another constable. He is not pleased to see Sarah; despite being in love with and courting her, Barrett wants marry her so he can provide for Sarah instead of her having her own job.
Inside the pub is the corpse of Harry Warbrick, a hangman who owned the pub. In a bit of irony, Harry was hanged in such a way that the rope decapitated him. The sight of his corpse is incredibly gruesome, so Hugh leaves the photographing to Sarah and Mick while he talks to the curious public. Barrett joins Sarah and Mick, and the three of them discuss the crime, using information gleaned from the crime scene and Hugh's own inquiries.
The possibility that it was suicide is dismissed; Harry was very proud of his work and would not botch his own hanging. Broken glass point to some kind of struggle, and bloody footprints trial from Harry's corpse out the back door. However, any other evidence related to the corpse must be left for the police when the police surgeon arrives.
=== Chapter 2 ===
At the headquarters of the Daily World, Sarah and Mick develop the crime scene photographs while Hugh chats with the staff. Just as the photographs are finished, they all receive a summons from Sir Gerald Mariner, who bought the newspaper company six months ago. Taking the photographs with them, Sarah, Mick, and Hugh meet Sir Gerald in his office. With their employer is James Palmer and Malcolm Cross, the editor-in-chief and a reporter respectively. 
After seeing the gruesome pictures and hearing that Harry was most likely murdered, Sir Gerald wants the paper to announce their intentions to solve the murder before the police do. Sir Gerald sees it as an opportunity to boost sales while Malcolm sees it as a way to rise higher in the world of business. However, instead of giving the investigation over to Malcolm, Sir Gerald orders Sarah to do it. To James, he tells him to warn the staff to keep quiet about anything they learn regarding the murder.
Once Sir Gerald dismisses them, Sarah follows a disgruntled Malcolm while Hugh and Mick follow her. Malcolm refuses to work with any of them; he believes Sarah slept her way to a job and he despises Hugh's homosexuality. Instead, he will conduct his own investigation, that way he can take all the credit. He leaves Sarah, Hugh, and Mick, who agree that they literally and figuratively cannot afford to let Sir Gerald down; Mick is trying to woo Catherine Price, a fairly expensive endeavor, and Hugh is in a secret relationship with Gerald's son, Tristan Mariner. 
=== Chapter 3 ===
Sarah, Hugh, and Mick return to The Ropemaker's Daughter to learn where Harry lived. When they get to his house, they see that Malcolm arrived before they did. He even informs Inspector Reid and Barrett about the contest. Reid is still sore about how the Jack the Ripper and kidnapping cases turned out, making him vindictive towards Barrett. Knowing he has even less love for them, Sarah and the boys hideout in a nearby public house while they wait for Reid and Barrett to leave.
Once they have eaten, Sarah and Hugh go back to Harry's house while Mick protects Sarah's equipment. Posing as a duo from the Home Office, Sarah and Hugh gain admittance into the household by Hugh using his good looks and charm on Mary Jenkins, the housekeeper. Miss Jenkins shows them to Mrs. Isabella Warbrick, who plays the part of the grieving widow convincingly enough. While she does not say it loud, Sarah and Hugh glean that Harry becoming a hangman put a huge strain on his marriage.
When the interview is over, Sarah and Hugh are escorted out by Miss Jenkins. However, she left the door unlocked. Knowing they will not have another chance to inspect the house, Sarah and Hugh sneak their way back inside. Miss Jenkins is in the kitchen and they hear Mrs. Warbrick speak upstairs. Following the sound of her voice, they quietly make their way up the stairs, stopping in front of a room, presumably Mrs. Warbrick. On the bed sits the "grieving" widow and a man who is quite clearly her paramour. 
Having seen enough, Sarah and Hugh sneak their way back out of the house before returning to the public house. They relate to Mick what they have seen. Since they do not know who the paramour is, Mick offers to trail the man when he leaves. He also tells them that a wake for Harry will be held at The Ropemaker's Daughter.
=== Chapter 4 ===
When Sarah and Hugh arrive home, they find out from Fitzmorris that Tristan and Sally Albert are waiting for them. Hugh and Tristan go upstairs to talk while Sarah and Sally stay downstairs. Sally spotted their father, Benjamin Bain, while in the library. She spotted him watching her, but he ran away at her notice. Sarah promises to help Sally search for their father as soon as possible.
Sally leaves shortly before Hugh and Tristan come back downstairs. Once Tristan's left, they update each other about their conversations. Hugh tells Sarah that Sir Gerald is willing to rebuild the relationship between himself and his son. Of course, this means that Tristan will be moving back into Mariner House, which will result in fewer chances for Hugh and Tristan to meet without arousing suspicion. Regardless, Hugh is happy for Tristan.
=== Chapter 5 ===
The wake at The Hangman's Daughter is packed with people, mostly thanks to the free drinks being offered. Sarah and Hugh are in attendance, Sarah coming across framed segments of rope from Harry's hanging. Underneath each frame is a label with the criminal's name and a price per inch of rope. Sarah learns from one stranger that Amelia Carlisle's was stolen sometime last night. 
Amelia was a baby farmer, a woman who fostered unwanted babies in exchange for money. She was recently convicted of killing three babies under her care, though she no doubt murdered dozens more. She was hanged in November, her case having made waves amongst the public, who dubbed her the Baby Butcher.
Sarah bumps into Ernie Leach, an unsettling man who is an assistant hangman. He takes a disturbing amount of pride in his work with hopes of becoming a full fledged hangman someday. Harry did not agree, having taken Ernie's name off the list of prospective promotions. Leach believes Harry was bitter about being reported for being drunk on the job. It is why he is glad Harry was killed, though he denies being the one to do it. 
Leach tries to leave the pub shortly after Hugh meets back up with Sarah. Instead, Leach gets into a fight with another man. Sarah and Hugh go out to see if Leach is alright, learning that the other man is a reporter from the Telegraph named Charlie Sullivan. Being careful not to tip of Charlie that they are from a rival company, Sarah and Hugh take Charlie to a nearby pub. 
As Charlie drinks, he lets them know about that Harry alcohol tended to shake the hangman's tongue loose; despite the Official Secrets Act- a piece of legislature dictating that all hangings are to remain confidential- Harry hinted that there was something unusual about Amelia's. Almost three minutes passed from the time she walked into the execution shed to the time he she was hanging from the noose. Harry had hinted that something happened during those two minutes and fifty seconds, but he was killed before he could say what. 
Before they can learn anymore from the reporter, Charlie recognizes Sarah and Hugh as being from the Daily World. He refuses to say anything further, flipping the table over before storming out of the pub.
== Character Appearances ==
<tabber>
|-|Debut=
* Constable Mitchell
* Harry Warbrick
* Sir Gerald Mariner
* James Palmer
* Malcolm Cross
* Miss Mary Jenkins
* Mrs. Isabella Warbrick
* Ernie Leach
* Charlie Sullivan
* Amelia Carlisle (mentioned)
* James Berry (mentioned)
|-|Recurring=
* Sarah Bain
* Mick O'Reilly
* Hugh Staunton
* Thomas Barrett
* Catherine Price
* Tristan Mariner
* Inspector Reid
</tabber>
== Character Deaths ==
Name 	Cause of Death 	When
Harry Warbrick	Decapitation by hanging	Chapter 1
== Cover Gallery ==
Hangmans secret first edition 2019.jpg|2019 First edition (English) 
== Trivia ==
Coming soon...
== References ==
== Navigation ==
Category:Books
Category:Novels
Category:Sarah Bain novels