Title: HANGMAN
Author: Daniel Cole
ISBN: 9781409168812
Publisher: Orion Books
Pages: 384
Source: Private Copy
Meet DCI Emily Baxter, a detective whose life is as complicated as the cases she investigates.
A body is found hanging from Brooklyn Bridge, the word ‘BAIT’ carved into the chest.
In London a copycat killer strikes, branded with the word ‘PUPPET’, forcing DCI Emily Baxter into an uneasy partnership with the detectives on the case, Special Agents Rouche and Curtis.
Each time they trace a suspect, the killer is one step ahead. With the body count rising on both sides of the Atlantic, can they learn to trust each other and identify who is holding the strings before it is too late?
Official Summary
30 July 2025
Hangman is a gritty, high-stakes follow-up to Daniel Cole’s Ragdoll, and while it shifts the spotlight from the infamous Detective William Fawkes to DCI Emily Baxter, the thrills and body count are just as intense. This time, the horrors span two continents, and the pressure is dialled up.
The novel kicks off with a gruesome scene—a body hanging from Brooklyn Bridge, the word “BAIT” carved into the chest—and it’s clear from the start that this isn’t going to be your average serial killer case. The grotesque symbolism and chilling attention to detail make it all the more disturbing. Then, across the ocean in London, a second body turns up, this time with the word “PUPPET” carved into the victim. It’s grisly, mysterious, and undeniably addictive.
Enter DCI Emily Baxter—tough, complex, and still haunted by the fallout from the Ragdoll case. She’s thrust into the middle of an international investigation and forced to work alongside American agents Rouche and Curtis. Their dynamic is one of the novel’s strongest points—tense, sceptical, but slowly growing into a reluctant trust as the stakes escalate.
What sets Hangman apart is its pacing and ambition. It’s fast-moving and cinematic, with scenes that play out like a high-budget thriller. Cole balances multiple perspectives and settings without losing momentum, and the tension never lets up. The question of who’s pulling the strings adds a compelling psychological layer to what could have been just another procedural manhunt.
While Hangman doesn’t quite have the jaw-dropping originality of Ragdoll, it more than makes up for it with sharper character development, particularly in Baxter. Her vulnerabilities and frustrations make her feel real, even when the case teeters on the edge of implausibility.
Hangman is a dark, gripping thriller with brutal crimes, clever misdirection, and a damaged yet determined lead in DCI Emily Baxter. Daniel Cole has proven he can do more than deliver shocks—he can build a twisted narrative that hooks you and drags you breathlessly across the finish line. A worthy sequel for fans of fast-paced crime fiction.
Also By Daniel Cole
RAGDOLL
William Fawkes, a controversial detective known as The Wolf, has just been reinstated to his post after he was suspended for assaulting a vindicated suspect. Still under psychological evaluation, Fawkes returns to the force eager for a big case. When his former partner and friend, Detective Emily Baxter, calls him to a crime scene, he’s sure this is it: the body is made of the dismembered parts of six victims, sewn together like a puppet–a corpse that becomes known as “The Ragdoll.”
Fawkes is tasked with identifying the six victims, but that gets dicey when his reporter ex-wife anonymously receives photographs from the crime scene, along with a list of six names, and the dates on which the Ragdoll Killer plans to murder them.
The final name on the list is Fawkes.
Baxter and her trainee partner, Alex Edmunds, hone in on figuring out what links the victims together before the killer strikes again. But for Fawkes, seeing his name on the list sparks a dark memory, and he fears that the catalyst for these killings has more to do with him–and his past–than anyone realizes.
About the Author
Author bio from the author’s site
At 33 years old, Daniel Cole has worked as a paramedic, an RSPCA officer and most recently for the RNLI, driven by an intrinsic need to save people or perhaps just a guilty conscience about the number of characters he kills off in his writing.
He has received a three-book publishing and television deal for his debut crime series, which publishers and producers describe as “pulse-racing” and “exceptional”.
Daniel currently lives in sunny Bournemouth and can usually be found down the beach when he ought to be writing book two in the Nathan Wolfe series instead.
Ragdoll is his first novel.
Thank you for visiting the blog and reading my review. I have just added a copy of Endgame to my TBR – I have to know what comes next. I will do my best to get to this one soon. Have you been following the series? Which is your favourite book? I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below. Until next time…. Happy reading!
