Book Review: "Gallows Court" by Martin Edwards

Martin Edwards is one of my favourite people in the world of literature. He is the brains behind putting together and publishing the golden-age crime novels which form the British Library Crime Classics series and obviously, we all know how obsessed with those I am. I mean whenever I'm feeling a bit off or a bit down, I know I can head to Kindle Unlimited and find something that will engross me and distract me for some time. Of course, I have a lot of things in my life that distract me from reality - but that's one of my favourites. So, let's take a look at the efforts of Martin Edwards and how he has written his own golden-age crime novel...

1930s London is perhaps the best place to set any crime novel and given the fact that it's Martin Edwards who is writing it as well means that we can definitely say, it is very atmospheric. Very atmospheric. A city often draped in night, coated in fog becomes the backdrop for murderous intent. What we have is a city that is coming into it's own in the modern times, haunted by the First World War, approaching the second and unknowingly being hurtled through space. It's a boiling pot of tension if you ever saw one. Every bit of the atmosphere adds this shade of uncertainty and shadow to the writing and we are all aware of the fact that I can definitely get on board with a shady and mysterious setting.

Rachel Savernake is the daughter of a hanging judge and a downright difficult woman to get along with. When she first meets the journalist Jacob Flint, she is really quite cruel to him, stating that she doesn't want him anywhere near her. She had previously solved a murder called 'The Chorus Girl Murder' and now works on solving other various crimes. Her very Sherlock-Holmes-Asshole personality sets her apart from the other characters but we have to admit she does have an eye for detail and incredible intelligence like him as well.

The deaths are strange to say the least: murder, suicide, public executions and more - they seem to become more baffling with each demise. They also tend to hinge on very subtle clues which invites the reader to also help piece them together as the narrative moves on. Of course, I don't want to say what the clues are exactly as this will probably ruin the ending of the book. I'd like to invite you as well to take a closer look at these.

A clandestine organisation called the Damnation Society seems to have worked its way into some position of prominence. All consisting of men of intellect and influence, this is the bohemian grove of the weirdo world. Cultish attitudes and strange corruptions here and there, they stand on the edge of society whilst also controlling a whole lot of what is within. Can I just say that Martin Edwards really does play with those cultural anxieties of the 1930s so well that we even get a weird cult of the damned worked in. We have to remember that at this time, England was starting on the road towards the modern day and a religiously named threat would have probably scared the daylights out of everyone.

There's definitely a question of what is really going on from the very beginning because even though we have a unique setting, we definitely have strange character dynamics with the actual novel opening with Jacob trying to get some answers out of Rachel. The theme of trying to get answers out of Rachel is something you will see develop as the book continues and it gets more and more worrying. She may not be as simplistic as the golden age detective.

All in all, I have to say I really enjoyed this and because I like the British Library Crime Classics books I think I may have just reignited a passion for them. I cannot believe I stopped reading them for so long and yet, here I am waiting to dive back in. I hope you give them a chance and take a look, they are all pretty brilliant. I might make a list of my favourites soon!