Set in the North of England in the early 1800’s, this excellent mystery novel centres around a thief-taker, his wife and the young girl they have taken in to help solve mysteries. Simon Weston has been employed to find the kidnapped daughter of a wealthy tradesman. He and his mysterious young boarder, Jane, realise that there is far more to this mystery than a kidnapping and their own past is catching up with them. Simon must protect those he loves for a truly evil and cunning adversary. The characters in this novel are intricately detailed and human, each with a rich history. What a treat to read. Looking forward to more of this series. I might even go back and read the other series by this author.

I’m a southwest London girl, who moved to Yorkshire at the age of nine and made it her home. That’s when my father got a promotion at work that resulted in him working in Leeds. We lived in the “posh” town along the railway line and, as I got older, Leeds was where I’d go on occasion for shopping. That was in the 1990s. The Hanging Psalm is set in 1820 and, while some of the street names remain the same, is set in an urban area far from the one I knew. This is an older, darker Leeds, without its glittering façade of respectable stores, restaurants, and bars. But still, I reached for The Hanging Psalm precisely because of its setting.

Chris Nickson has written well over two dozen novels, most set in the Yorkshire city, but this is the first one that I’ve read. He appears to specialize in crime fiction set in Leeds during various historical eras with a couple of different protagonists, and that’s what this is. Simon Westow is a thief-taker, finding and returning items stolen by the city’s rich. What starts as a quest to locate and safely return a businessman’s daughter turns into a cat and mouse game with an old adversary. Simon knows that not every transport to Australia is a one-way trip. Once they’ve served their sentence, criminals are free to return to England, and a particularly nasty piece of work has done just that. The kidnapping is simply a means to an end.

Can you enjoy a dark mystery with plenty of murder and other unpleasant goings-on? Because I enjoyed The Hanging Psalm. With each movement, the tension in the narrative built up like a crescendo as it reached toward its conclusion. I thought I knew what was going to happen regarding one of the characters, and it filled me with dread because I didn’t want it to happen. There were twists and times when it didn’t look so good for Simon and his assistant, Jane. Since this is the first Simon Westow book, I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to say that Simon comes through this adventure. But will those around him?

Not everything about Simon and his companions is revealed in The Hanging Psalm. I was left with a couple of questions, especially about Jane. The next book in the series, The Hocus Girl, is due out at the end of September. If it’s a sequel, I’m hopeful my questions will be answered. If it’s simply book two in an ongoing series, then I’ll probably have more questions! In the meantime, I’m going to be renewing my library card so I can read some of Nickson’s other novels.

Disclaimer: I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. I was not required to write a review, and the words above are my own.

Escaping from a life of torment and drudgery in the workhouse, Simon Westow has made a decent life for himself in the rapidly growing Leeds of 1820. He has a successful trade as a 'thief-taker', retiring property to its rightful owners, but his latest case is odd to say the least. An important factory owner has asked Simon to find his daughter who has been kidnapped. Simon and his redoubtable sidekick, the quiet and slight Jane, do not succeed in this venture but it is merely part of a larger game and now Simon's past is chasing him and is out for revenge.
I do enjoy Nickson's novels set in Leeds, this is based in an earlier time frame than the others but is still a well-written detective novel. I love the descriptions of Leeds, knowing the city well, and I think these are also really strong aspects of the book. Less successful for me was the sense of the age. There was much about the increasing mechanisation of the factories and a few mentions of Waterloo but I felt there should have been more to pin the story to a specific age.

The Hanging Psalm by Chris Nickson is an intriguing historical nineteenth century mystery in which a thief taker has a very difficult time bringing White, a murderer and kidnapper, to justice in a town with corrupt magistrates and very dodgy merchants and other supposedly upright citizens. White has returned from transportation to Australia for previous crimes and has vowed vengeance on the thief taker. Read and enjoy all the twists and turns.

Simon Westow is a thief taker working in Leeds in 1820. He finds stolen things and recovers them for the reward. He grew up as an orphan and worked in the factories, where life was hard. He is married to Rosie and they have two boys, Amos and Noah. He is hired by John Milner to find his missing daughter, Hannah. This hunt will threaten everything and everyone Simon holds dear. Finding Hannah is not the issue, the repercussions will involve an old case from his past. Assisted by Janie, another refugee from the poorhouse, Simon will be challenged as never before. This is the first in a new historical series by Nickson; he writes excellent stories with spot-on historical details. His characters are complex and are remarkably well-done. Recommended for anyone who likes historical mysteries.

Dark deeds and vengeance!

I'm loving the lead character Simon Westow and in particular his assistant Jane. A damaged young woman who does what she has to survive on the dark streets of the underbelly of Regency 1820's Leeds.
Simon, a thief-taker has been asked to find businessman John Milner's kidnapped daughter Hannah. The taking of Hannah leads Simon and Jane down some twisted paths and into the path of a wholly unexpected enemy.
A gripping story of revenge and corruption. The character of Jane is fascinating. Can she become more or is she destined to a life lived within the confines of her traumatic past, allowing it to define her?
Exciting read!

A NetGalley ARC

The Hanging Psalm
By: Chris Nickson
Severn House Publishers
Publication Date: January 01, 2019
4 Stars

The Hanging Psalm is a historical suspense-mystery novel set in Leeds in the early 1800s. The main character, Simon Westow, is a thief-taker, a man who recovers stolen property. Simon is hired by a wealthy businessman to secure the return of his kidnapped daughter. Simon, with the help of his young, streetwise assistant, Jane, seek out the young lady. The case grows into far more than a simple kidnapping though, and Simon finds himself embroiled in his toughest assignment yet. Simon and Jane must be careful because there is danger lurking around the far too many dark corners of Leeds.

This is the first book I’ve read by Chris Nickson, and I’m very impressed. The novel was exciting from start to finish. It was a hard book to put down because I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next. Each chapter brought exhilarating plot developments. The book also made me think about what defines something as right and wrong. I’m hooked, and I plan on reading any future titles in this series. His other books sound equally as intriguing and I plan to read them as well.

The author did a great job describing both the tangible and intangible facets of 1820’s Leeds. It wasn’t hard to imagine the dark and gritty town that Simon and Jane are dodging in and out of. The characters are very complex and gripping. Simon had a hard life growing up in a workhouse from a young age. There he was mistreated, overworked, and underfed. Simon had to be strong to make it through those kinds of conditions. That toughness that he acquires carried through to his adult life and it is useful as his job as a thief-taker. Yet, that toughness does not define his whole person. He is a loving family man and is driven by the differences between right and wrong. Jane seems impenetrable. She is both street-smart and street-tough. As tough as she is on the bad guys, she is even tougher on herself. She holds both her secrets and her past close to her chest, and doesn’t let other get close to her.

Thanks to Net Galley and Severn House Publishers for an ARC of this book. #NetGalley #TheHangingPsalm

In 1820 Leeds, Simon Westow makes a living as a thief-taker, recovering lost property. He is approached by John Milner, businessman, to find his daughter who has been kidnapped. Find her before he has to pay the ransom. Westow and his assistant Jane set the enquiries in motion. But how far back in Westow's past do they need to go.
A really good mystery, well-written and with good well-developed characters. A very good, solid, start to a new series which I look forward to reading more.

I really like this book and I was happy I discovered this writer.
It's a good historical thriller, full of twists and turns, with interesting characters and a well researched background.I
I liked the cast of characters and the setting.
The plot was gripping and it's fast paced, never a moment of bore.
I look forward to reading further instalment in this series and other books by this writer.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Severn House and Netgalley for this ARC

This story begins with our main character Simon Westow giving testimony in the investigation into child labor and poor houses. It's 1820 in Leeds. A dark and dangerous time. Simon may have started life in brutal conditions of a poor house, but he is a self-made man now with a wife and children and a home of his own.

He is also a thief-taker. I had to look that one up. What Simon does is returns stolen items to their rightful owner for a fee. 

When one of Leeds businessman comes to him for help in returning his daughter Simon isn't quite sure, but the money is good. Soon he and his helper Jane are trying to find the girl and wondering if this is all tied in with something else. Something more sinister.

Someone is watching them. Someone who shouldn't even be here. And as the bodies pile up the danger for Simon, his family and the intriguing Jane increases. This is personal. Someone wants revenge. Someone wants Simon dead.

Nothing I like better than a good historical mystery! Especially in the Regency period. I'm happy to have gotten in on the first book because the ending left me wanting more.

Netgalley/ January 1st 2019 by Severn House Publishers

I read quite a lot of historical fiction so I was very pleased to be advanced a copy from Netgalley. I found the story and historical detail lacked complexity and there was a lot of telling not showing. This is an enjoyable read.

An intense historical investigative mystery which brings the early 19th century alive.

Simon Westow was brought up in a workhouse from the age of four, tortured and forced into child labour until he left and made his own way in the world. He managed to create a good life for himself, married to Rosie and running his personal employment as a thief-taker. Jane also a street child was as good as Simon at uncovering theft, and criminal activity worked for Simon. He and Rosie gave her the loving home she had never had.

In this novel, Simon was approached by a wealthy landowner John Milner to find his kidnapped daughter Hannah. From Lizzie Henry a brothel owner to magistrates and counsellors, Simon slices through ‘tangled and knotted relationships, strange friendships and enemies’ all to get justice for the criminal activities of Julius White to hear the ‘hanging psalm’ before death by gallows. Can he do it?

This is a nail-biting riveting novel that uses vivid descriptions of how Leeds must have been during that period of time. I found the historical aspect of this novel added depth and quality to an excellent read.

BonnieK

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Never vanishing. Never fading.

Chris Nickson sets the stage for The Hanging Psalm with Simon Westow appearing before the Child Labour Commission. It's 1820 in Leeds and the heaviness in the air reflects the somber tone of his statement. Simon has carried the emotional and physical burden of his seven years from age 6 to 13 in a government workhouse after his parents died. Even at age thirty, the memories almost choke him in the re-telling. But not one commissioner asks the names of the mill owners and overseers. As usual, cruelty rides away on its dark horse.

Simon, through hard work and a determined spirit, has become a "Thief Taker". His newly found profession is likened to a bounty hunter of stolen property. And Simon is quite good at what he does while making a living for his resourceful wife, Rosie, and their twin sons. Simon has engaged a young waif by the name of Jane who knows the streets like the back of her hand. Jane will become a central figure as the story progresses.

John Milner, an investment businessman, visits Simon with a very serious request. His daughter, Hannah, has been kidnapped. Milner bluntly puts it out there that a daughter is a valuable commodity. A good marriage can never be arranged if said daughter has been damaged in any way. The ransom note threatens irrevocable harm to Hannah if payment is not made. With more concern than what has been shown by the father, Simon and Jane set out to find Hannah.

Chris Nickson paints a vision of Leeds in which the reader is immersed in the sights, the smells, and the atmosphere of mud-filled streets and shabby storefronts. His characters wear faces of rejection and the stain of poverty. "Existence drained you." Nickson reveals layer upon layer of Jane's backstory and the deep impact that it has had on her life. Her shaky footsteps through the darkened winding streets of Leeds speak of survival in spite of the odds.

Nickson will see to it that you are engulfed in the heightening bolts of electricity as the pressure keeps escalating at the end. Simon and his family may have laid a rut of tracks for profound evil to wind its way into their nest. And young Jane will be a constant presence in which you beg for mercy for those whom life has betrayed time and time again.

I've read many books by this talented author, but The Hanging Psalm has to be one of my favorites. Chris Nickson is a master of historical fiction. I received a copy through NetGalley for an honest review. I wish to thank both Chris Nickson and Severn Books for the opportunity.

Author Chris Nickson presents a gripping new series set during the Regency period in his home city of Leeds, featuring ‘thief taker’ Simon Westow.

Simon is a product of the workhouse, a place where the cruelty he suffered still causes him pain today, albeit affecting his mental rather than his physical health. Despite all of this, he’s managed to carve a niche for himself, finding and returning stolen possessions to their rightful owners for a fee, but when businessman John Milner calls on his services to find his kidnapped daughter Hannah, it unleashes a terrifying chain of events for Simon and his family.

It’s 1820 and an adversary from his past will entice Simon and his assistant Jane into the dark forbidding courts and alleyways of Leeds - scary places where all manner of criminal activities occur. Jane makes an excellent partner but although she’s lived with Simon and his wife Rosie and their two children for 2 years, they still know very little about her - she appears to have no feelings at all - very cold and distant, but she actually feels very deeply about things in her life, she just doesn’t show it to the world - she won’t let anyone in, but woe betide anyone who thinks they’ll get the better of her, they might just pay with their life!

I really enjoyed this one, the characters were great, the plot was gripping and the author really captured the sense of a place. I’ve previously read some of this author’s books and I recognise and appreciate the research that goes into them, because as well as including locations that still exist today, he also mentions a network of mean, dirty, cobbled yards and courts, places where sunlight never penetrated - these places actually existed but have long since disappeared from the landscape of Leeds, however the author manages to bring them vividly back to life in a most frightening manner, and the bonus? He has a real gift when it comes to writing good old fashioned historical crime. If you haven’t read any of his books yet, you’re missing a treat!

When Simon Westow is hired to find a missing girl, he doesn't realize just how close to home this case will hit. A thief-taker in Leeds, Simon is used to finding missing property. But the villain who took the factory-owner's daughter has hidden her more carefully than any stolen locket or ring of gold. Aided by Jane, a young girl who knows how to become nearly invisible on the streets, Simon must thwart this master criminal and avoid losing his family to the vengeance of a longtime enemy.

This novel, although set during the same era as many Regency romances, is far from a cozy mystery. It's gritty atmosphere and gruesome detail make it a historical thriller of the first order. Can Simon bring justice to the corrupt city of Leeds? And will he lose his wife and children in the process? 

Throughout the book, Simon is as hard as nails but surprisingly tender with his wife Rosie and his three-year-old twins. Although he is not omniscient, he is indefatigable about running down all the red herrings that crop up in the case. Jane is a fascinating sidekick, a wraith-like adolescent who has lodged with Simon's family for two years but refuses to let them into her secrets or her past. She blames herself for everything that goes wrong in the case and is just as merciless about exacting punishment on herself as she is in hunting down the evildoer.

All in all, this book was a well-written page-turner with intriguing characters and a promising launch to a new mystery series. Recommended for those without weak stomachs. 

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Negalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The Hanging Psalm, by Chris Nickson, is a murder mystery set in early nineteenth century Leeds, England which also sheds a great deal of light on both the living conditions and the working conditions endured by children of the poor. Also emphasized by Nickson is the great divide which results from class structure.

The protagonist, Simon Westow, manages to scrape out a life for his family by retrieving stolen property for wealthy individuals. In The Hanging Psalm the stolen property he is tasked to find is a teenage daughter, who indeed is little more than property to her father and her potential fiance. Retrieving the young lady leads Simon, and his delightful assistant, through a tangled web of deceit and murder. Ultimately it is realized that the evil being rendered upon Simon and all whom he loves is an act of revenge by a person from his past.

Nickson has done a great deal of research into the Leeds of 200 years ago, He eloquently describes the lack of sanitation, the buildings, the roads and the various types of people and occupations that could be found therein. He is especially poignant when describing the lot of the poor and homeless, in a time when there was absolutely no social network available. His descriptions leads one to reflect on the progress that may, or may not, have been made by modern day society.

All in all, The Hanging Psalm is an exciting and suspenseful read which accurately reflects its time and place.

I received a free copy of this ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"The Hanging Psalm" is a dark suspense set in 1820 in Leeds, England. Details about the time period and the city were woven into the story and brought it alive in my imagination. We follow a team--the husband finds and returns stolen goods for a reward and he is assisted by his wife and a street girl with a traumatic past and habit of cutting.

We start with a rich man who wants his kidnapped daughter found and returned so he doesn't have to pay a ransom for her safe return. There's a time limit and the kidnapping is to remain a secret, so they rush around asking questions and following leads. Things don't go as expected, and soon they learn that a murderer from their past with friends in high places is out to get his revenge by killing them. He's very clever, so they must find and defeat him before his assassins kill them.

There was some bad language. Simon interrupts a man having sex with a whore, so there was a brief mention of how they were positioned and his sending her away (only vaguely described). Overall, I'd recommend this suspenseful story to those who don't mind darker, damaged main characters.

Honest broker that I am, and the modern equivalent of Robespierre in my sea-green incorruptibility, I must declare an interest here. I am an unashamed and avid fan of anything written by Chris Nickson. I hope that if he did write a duff book – or chapter – or page – or sentence – I would say so. Happily, that dilemma is one that I have yet to face.
Nickson’s latest book introduces a new character, Simon Westow, who walks familiar streets – those of Leeds – but our man is living in Georgian times. England in 1820 was a kingdom of uncertainty. Poor, mad King George was dead, succeeded by his fat and feckless son, the fourth George. Veterans of the war against Napoleon, like many others in later years, found that their homeland was not a land fit for heroes. The Cato Street conspirators, having failed to assassinate the Cabinet, were executed.
Simon Westow is a thief-taker. These days, he might be a bounty hunter or a PI. There is no established official police force, merely a Constable who is neither use nor ornament.
“The constable. It was a name rather than a job. A position. All the ceremony and the money that went with the post, but none of the work. Cecil Freeman had been part of the council long enough to earn the sop, a nest to gild his retirement. He supervised the watch, old men who covered the different wards of Leeds and hobbled a mile rather than risk a fight.”
Westow is a tradesman, just like a plumber. He is paid by results, and when he is tasked with finding the kidnapped daughter of a prominent mill owner, it poses no major problem and the young woman is soon found and returned to her family. But – and it is a huge ‘but’ – Westow and his ally, a wraith-like and embittered girl of the streets called Jane, learn that there is much more to the kidnapping than meets the eye. Their nemesis is a vengeful and resourceful man called Julius White, who has returned from a seven year transportation sentence to settle scores with those who put him on the prison ship sailing to Australia.
Samuel Johnson said, “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life,” but Nickson has eyes and ears only for Leeds. I am always drawn to writers who make a vivid sense of place a major character in their novels, hence my fascination with the London of Christopher Fowler, Jim Kelly’s Fenland and the brooding hills of the Welsh Marches as portrayed by Phil Rickman. Nickson, and his Leeds across the generations, is up there with the best. Think of the subtleties of a Rembrandt portrait, every line and wrinkle faithfully reproduced, but also think of that great painter’s warmth and the deep compassion of his vision.
Nickson employs a simple but astonishingly effective plot device, that readers of his novels will recognise. A crime is committed. The perpetrator is either unknown, or a known villain who has gone to ground in the alleys and ginnels of Leeds. The central character, be it Richard Nottingham, Tom Harper, Lottie Armstrong or Dan Armstrong, must then call in favours, walk the streets, mingle with pub low-life or knock on the front doors of posh houses in search of information. This enables Nickson to bring Leeds to life across the centuries, its dark places with poverty so intense that it reeks, and those airy vaulted buildings where men of property and money take their leisure and talk business.
The author is also a highly respected music journalist, and he will be aware that the great Woody Guthrie said something along the lines of, “I only use three chords; maybe four, if I’m trying to impress a girlfriend.” Nickson is equally parsimonious with his prose. There are no flounces, no frills and no flourishes but, maybe because of this economy, there is memorable poetry, albeit bleak, such as when he describes the ‘fallen women’ of Leeds.
“Too many were desperate. All it took was the promise of a meal and a bed. And then enough gin and laudanum to dull the pain of living and the agony men inflicted. If a few died, there was ample room for the burials. Girls without names, without pasts; no one would ever ask questions.”
Westow’s pursuit of Julius White is thrilling stuff. The ex-convict’s desire for revenge has created a fire, and the character forged in its flames emerges as the embodiment of evil. Maybe it’s just me, but this novel casts a more sombre shadow than previous Nickson Leeds novels. Westow certainly carries deep psychological scars from his institutional upbringing, and Jane is a very dark, complex and troubled soul.

1820, Leeds, and Simon Westow, a thief-taker, is on the case. His trade is finding stolen goods and returning them. It is a first for him to be looking for a stolen person though. Hannah Milner, the daughter of John Milner, a rich businessman has been kidnapped and Simon is hired to find her before the ransom needs to be paid. But there is more at stake than he realises.
Accompanied by his assistant, the young girl Jane, a girl with a dark past, Simon soon realises that a sinister figure is behind the kidnapping, an enemy from Simon’s past – a man hell-bent on revenge on Simon. Nine years in Australia is a long time to bear a grudge…
I’m really torn on this one. It’s a very well-written book, with Georgian Leeds brought to life in a truly evocative manner. Not since the London of Paul Doherty’s Brother Athelstan, or Michael Jecks’ Devon has the past been brought so stunningly to life. Simon Westow, his family and Jane are a fully realised set of characters and I’d really like to read more of them.
But… at the end of the day, this is a revenge thriller, not really a mystery. Yes, there is an element of who is helping the villain achieve his ends, but not enough for the book to be billed a mystery. So on that aspect, it fell short for me.
At the end of the day, the problem is one of dodgy advertising – just call it a thriller, don’t call it a mystery. It’s an impressive book, just not the sort of story I was looking for. Recommended for fans of historical crime, with the above caveat.

Thanks to NetGalley, Severn House and of course the great writer Chris Nickson. WOW what a nailbiter but I got to the end safely ( of course).

Leeds 1820:"Thief-taker Simon Westow knows all about lost property. A boy from the workhouse, he now has a comfortable business finding and returning his clients' stolen possessions." Simon, his wife Rosie and their protégé, the young girl Jane, were all damaged in some ways by early life experiences.

Simon and Rosie had managed to make a life, with normalcy, together and for their twin sons. Rosie was intuitive and loving but with a core of fierceness. Jane lives in their house but shares nothing of her painful past to anyone. All three straddle a normal existence with much darker elements. Will they change their lives after this episode?

The details of this complicated and darkish mystery I will leave to you, the reader, at least partly because it is difficult to unweave this complex tale. Recommended to historical mystery lovers.