Gallows Court

Starred review from July 22, 2019
In this exceptional series launch from Edgar–winner Edwards (Dancing for the Hangman) set in 1930 London, ambitious tabloid journalist Jacob Flint is hoping to make a name for himself by interviewing Rachel Savernake, a judge’s daughter, whose amateur detecting solved a murder that baffled Scotland Yard. Rachel had identified Claude Linacre, a prominent politician’s brother, as the killer shortly before Linacre fatally poisoned himself. After Rachel rebuffs Jacob’s inquiries about the Linacre case, she persuades a terminally ill banker and philanthropist to write a confession that he strangled and dismembered a nurse—and then shoot himself. Entries from an 11-year-old journal, written by someone whose role is initially unclear, accuse Rachel of being a murderer. More bloodshed follows as Jacob tries to figure out Rachel’s motives and culpability. The labyrinthine plot is one of Edwards’s best, and he does a masterly job of maintaining suspense, besides getting the reader to invest in the fate of the two main characters. Fans of Edgar Wallace’s classic Four Just Men won’t want to miss this one.

Starred review from September 1, 2019
Edwards has earned a clutch of awards for nonfiction and fiction alike, and his latest novel arrives in the U.S. after having won the UK's 2018 Dagger in the Library prize. At the center of this stand-alone thriller, set in London in 1930, is Rachel Savernake, a glamorous, 24-year-old heiress with an interest in amateur sleuthing. Both Scotland Yard inspectors and Fleet Street reporters are baffled by the fact that Rachel beat the police in solving the murders and dismemberments of two young women. A Fleet Street cub crime reporter is fascinated by Rachel (as will be the reader); their cat-and-mouse game is absorbing in itself. Adding to the mystery is a series of interspersed journal entries about Rachel, dating from 1919. This is highly atmospheric, spine-tingling fun. The 1930s setting is to die for, including many evocative details, like the speaking tube with which Rachel communicates with the driver of her Rolls-Royce, and the presence of a yellowing poster for Hitchcock's 1929 thriller Blackmail, hanging in the luggage office of a London train station. Best of all, the way that Edwards keeps deepening the creepiness of this mystery until the very end is utterly stunning.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)