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'''''Gallows Thief''''' (2001) is a [[mystery novel]] by [[Bernard Cornwell]], which uses [[capital punishment]] as its backdrop. Setset in [[London]] in the year [[1817]], itwhich occasionally alludes to Cornwell’s characteruses [[Richardcapital Sharpe (fictional character)|Richard Sharpe seriespunishment]] inas its mentioningsbackdrop. of a rifle officer that the protagonist, Rider Sandman, was familiar with back during the Napoleonic wars.
 
ARider NapoleonicSandman, Wara veteran of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], is hired as an investigator, as a formality to [[rubber stamp (politics)|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.▼
==Plot introduction==
▲A Napoleonic War veteran is hired as an investigator, as a formality to [[rubber stamp (politics)|rubber-stamp]] the death sentence of a condemned murderer. Instead, he discovers a conspiracy to conceal the real killer.
 
Though not mentioned by name, Cornwell’s earlier character [[Richard Sharpe (fictional character)|Richard Sharpe]] is likely alluded to as a Rifle officer who Sandman encountered during the wars.<ref>[http://www.bernardcornwell.net/index.cfm?page=7&FirstRow=1&faqstring=sandman Bernard Cornwell official site - Author answers "Your Questions"]</ref>
==Explanation of the novel’s title==
In the slang of the time, a “gallows thief,” (also a “crap prig”) is a person who prevents the hanging of an innocent person.
 
==Plot summary==
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On Skavadale's estate, Meg hides in a "priest's hole," a secret hiding place built to hide [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] priests during the reign of [[Elizabeth I]].
 
==References==
{{reflist}}
 
{{Bernard Cornwell}}
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