1810. Nottingham, England.
George Smith is the town's executioner - a pious man who has spent years telling himself the work is necessary. Justice must be served. The law must be upheld. Some ropes were never meant to be questioned.
Until another child is placed in his hands.
Driven by a conscience he can no longer silence, George begins pulling at threads that were never meant to be found - and uncovers a conspiracy buried in the shadows of Nottingham's most powerful institution: a private members' club whose lions have been sending the innocent to his rope for years.
At its centre stands Benjamin Connolly - charming, brilliant, and by every account either a genius or the devil himself. Even the lions seem afraid of him.
Protecting his family means playing their game. Ending it means becoming something George never intended to be - and trusting a man no one should.
Set against Luddite riots, Georgian corruption and the flickering lamps of 1810 Nottingham, The Hangman's Turn is a story of justice, loyalty, and a man who knows exactly where the bodies are buried - because he put them there.
Drawing on the real history of Georgian Nottingham - its gaol and its gallows, its caves, and crowded yards, its riots and its forgotten dead - The Hangman's Turn is both a dark crime saga and a love letter to a rebel city. It is a story about family: the one we are born into, and the one we build from broken people. About class, and the machinery that keeps the poor exactly where the powerful need them. About faith tested past its breaking point, mercy disguised as menace, and the terrible arithmetic of saving some when you cannot save all.
Book One of The Lions Chamber series. For readers of dark historical fiction, morally complex antiheroes, and crime sagas where the humour is as dark as the history.
A good hangman never lets an innocent die.
About the Author :
A.E. Johnson is a Nottinghamshire-based author, screenwriter, and BBC presenter. She is the founder of Queensbury Publications and the creator of The Lions Chamber - a six season, 72 episode Georgian noir series set in 1810 Nottingham. Her work spans historical fiction, epic fantasy, psychological horror, and paranormal comedy drama. She lives in Kirkby-in-Ashfield with her husband, three children, and a 21-year-old cat who has strong opinions about deadlines.
