The Cater Street Hangman is the first of Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mysteries. Set in the Victorian era, it is an elegant and complex mystery full of well-drawn characters and rich period detail. When a maid in the upper class Ellison household is strangled, Inspector Pitt is called in to investigate. He finds a world ruled by strict manners and social customs, where the inhabitants of the Ellison's neighborhood appear to be more outraged by the thought of scandal than they are by murder. Inspector Pitt finds a most unlikely ally in Charlotte, the Ellison's spirited daughter. But as the murders continue, Charlotte and Pitt find themselves drawn together by more than the investigation.