Gallows Thief (2001) is a mystery novel by Bernard Cornwell set in London in the year 1817, which uses capital punishment as its backdrop.
Rider Sandman, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, is hired as an investigator as a formality to rubber-stamp the death sentence of a condemned murderer. Instead, he discovers a conspiracy to conceal the real killer. In the slang of the time, a “gallows thief,” (also a “crap prig”) is a person who prevents the hanging of an innocent person.
Though not mentioned by name, Cornwell’s earlier character Richard Sharpe is likely alluded to as a Rifle officer who Sandman encountered during the wars.
Read more about Gallows Thief: Plot Summary, Influences, Allusions To Real-life Historical Persons or Events
Famous quotes containing the words gallows and/or thief:
“For when the gallows is high
Your journey is shorter to heaven.”
—Unknown. The Night before Larry Was Stretched (l. 57–58)
“The thief. Once committed beyond a certain point he should not worry himself too much about not being a thief any more. Thieving is God’s message to him. Let him try and be a good thief.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)