In Hanged Man’s Noose by Judy Penz Sheluk, Emily Garland has spent several years working as a freelance journalist focusing on real estate issues when she gets a special job offer from Michelle Ellis, her boss. She ends up leaving her home of Toronto to a small town 90 minutes northeast of Toronto named Lount’s Landing and taking on editorship of the local paper, Inside the Landing. However, her real assignment is to secretly investigate developer Garrett Stonehaven, whom Emily secretly hates for what she is certain is unproven corruption. Now, in Lount’s Landing, Stonehaven seems to be up to no good for another time. He has bought the old elementary school and plans to turn it into a big box store, but is he up to something else?
Then, Emily goes to the Sunrise Cafe for breakfast, and Carter Dixon, one of Stonehaven’s biggest opponents in development, dies of a peanut allergy that everyone in Lount’s Landing knows about. It doesn’t take long before Emily discovers another body, and though both deaths are treated as accidental, Emily’s suspicions grow. Emily soon makes friends with Arabella Carpenter, a woman about to open her own antique shop, The Glass Dolphin. Together, the two women join forces to fight the development and solve the mysterious deaths.
From the moment I pushed play on Hanged Man’s Noose, I was drawn to it and pulled right in. The book posed plenty of excitement without being too intense. It makes financial issues actually interesting, even giving a clear explanation of the difference between a Ponzi Scheme and a pyramid scheme, making them both understandable even to a non- business mind. The book has creative discussions of the antiques in Arabella’s shop, adding to the greater interest of the book.
In addition to the little details in finances and antiques, the plot was fascinating and dramatic. The many twists and turns taken by the book drew my focus and held onto my attention until the book concluded with an exciting confrontation with a murderer. The setting to the plot served even further to make the book clever.
In addition, the characters in this book seem real and round, and the book is filled with strong women, good and bad. . Emily is a tenacious researcher who never lets go and keeps plugging away as she uncovers fact after fact, in unexpected twists. Arabella serves as an excellent partner for Emily, somewhat suspicious but also a strong woman who fights for what she believes to be right. I appreciate her view on life that people mirror what pose as antiques: the real thing, replicas, pieces with added details to make them more valuable, and deliberate forgeries. However, she also makes the statement that all people are capable of true change if they really choose. These are just two of the many strong women in the book.
Suzanne T. Fortin performs the audio edition of this book, doing justice to the well-written book in helping to bring it to life. She uses strong, creative expressions in her performance as well as clever voices for each character. I really enjoyed the way Fortin made this book all the more effective than it already was.
I greatly enjoyed listening to The Hanged Man’s Noose, which is named after the pub owned by Arabella’s best friend, another strong woman. I liked the message of female empowerment and the very creative plot. Instead of one obvious murder, we are left wondering about a series of accidents. That proved to be a refreshing change from the usual. I look forward to the next book’s in the series being produced on audio, though it will have a high bar to reach to match this one. I give the book five very bright stars!
Disclaimer: I received this book through Audiobook BOOM, but that had no effect on the content of my review.
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Thank you so much for the review! I really appreciate it. Yes, the sequel to Noose is currently in production with ACX. It is titled A HOLE IN ONE, and in that book Arabella takes the lead and Emily is the sidekick. It’s currently out in digital and paperback formats. I expect the audiobook version will be out by mid November or earlier. I also have 2 other titles out on Audible – LIVE FREE OR TRI (3 short crime fiction stories) and SKELETONS IN THE ATTIC, Book 1 in the Marketville Mystery series.