The Hanged Man by P.N. ElrodMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
2020 Re-Read
This book was my gateway to alternate Victorian timelines and steampunk. I re-read it on impulse because 2020. What better way to feel good than to revisit a book you love? I had all kinds of reading goals for this year (not to mention other life goals) and I've had to set all of those aside in favour of staying happy.
I was just as delighted by this Victorian adventure the second time around. It has its tense moments, as Alex Pendlebury discovers that she has been called as a psychic Reader to the scene of her own father's murder. She must strive to find out why he hadn't let her know that he was back in England, what he was involved in, and what her employer, Her Majesty's Psychic Service, has to do with it all. Her family is both a help and a hindrance, but she comes to count on her protective detail, Mr. Brooks.
It's a good mystery combined with imaginative paranormal aspects. It is also called book one of a series, but nothing more has been published since this novel in 2015. I don't know if this was the publisher's choice, or whether Pat Elrod lost interest, but either way I am sorry that there have been no further Psychic Service adventures.
***2018 Summer of Spies***
Recommended for fans of the Victorian lady detective form of fantasy.
I’m not necessarily the biggest fan of the steampunk subgenre, although I seem to be warming up to that category as I read more of it. This novel is one of those best suited to my particular tastes in fantasy.
I chose it partly because of the series title, Her Majesty’s Psychic Service. It is definitely a mystery with a dollop of romance—I’d been hoping for something spy related, from that series title. But there was enough intrigue that I’m still counting it towards my Summer of Spies.
I loved the family complications that the heroine, Alex Pendlebury, coped with throughout the story and the workplace machinations that also had to be factored into her calculations. Operating on the theory that forgiveness is easier to get than permission, Alex shows a lot of initiative on the investigation, aided by the sometimes-prescient always-handsome Lieutenant Brooks.
As Patricia Briggs wrote in her blurb for the book, there is “Murder, mayhem and tea.” If you like alternate-history Victorian adventure with witty banter and paranormal talents, this is the book for you. Now I am just crossing my fingers that Ms. Elrod will be publishing another volume in the series eventually.
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