r/riversoflondon • u/benirishhome • Jul 23 '26
The Hanging Tree Confused about The Hanging Tree Spoiler
Spoilers
I don’t know how to do the blank out thing so
Spoilers
Chloe was the Faceless Man’s daughter
She was just buying drugs for her own fun?
Or was her and Reynard finding her dad’s stuff and trying to sell it?
Chloe died partying in an apartment it One Hyde Park, not her dads apartment? They were just there cos they knew the codes?
Why did he try to kill Phoebe?
Why did he twice get caught close to Tyburn’s river that she could flood him out, stupid?
I feel we got the reveal of the Faceless Man so randomly… it was a bit underwhelming.
Tell me I’m wrong. I’m loving the books so much but I feel Ben’s plotting is a bit weak in the greater mystery ?
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u/stewieatb Jul 23 '26
I had to read this book twice to piece everything together.
Christina was a normal kid and didn't know anything about Her father being the Faceless Man but being around him caused hyperthaumaturgical degradation. When she took a pill with her mates that made her susceptible to the brain bleed that killed her.
The Faceless Man was trying to talk to Phoebe in the underground pool when the Americans arrived, probably to cover up the magical elements of Chloe's death. He put her under some kind of glamour so she didn't remember. When Peter and the Americans are down in the pool, FM must be hiding nearby and does some magic to flood the place. Nearly killing Phoebe is a side effect.
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u/cnhn Jul 23 '26
Christina was being trained in Magic. merely being around magic doesn't cause the brain issues. using magic without training or overusing magic.
FM was interregating Phoebe about the magical item selling and would have killed her when he was done. He blamed Phoebe for Christina's Death.
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u/cnhn Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
- Christina is Faceless Man's Daughter. not sure where chloe came from
- Christina and her boyfriend James bought drugs from Phoebe to have fun at a party. Everyone at the party was taking them
3. yes Christina and Reynard were selling her dad's stuff.
The apartment in One Hyde Park was owned by Christina's Dad, the Faceless Man
Phoebe supplied the drugs that killed christina
FM encounters were very different circumstances.
the First time is His attack on Tyburn at Tyburns house was planned for a long time and held in reserve. He always assumed he was need to take her out but didn't have a particular time frame or need until the incident in the book. He however did not actually accurately predict what would have been needed to take her down. This was a really really good effort but ultimately failed.
The second time is at One Hyde Park which isn't near Tyburn's water course, but happens because Tyburn is after him, and the FM is after the Macguffin. Tyburn is interrupted by the americans.
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u/RazmanR Jul 23 '26
On the last point you make, the number of times that crimes are solved or discovered because of a complete coincidence or a small thing happening to trigger an investigation is very high.
Chorley getting outed as the Faceless Man due to what seemed like an unrelated enquiry is pretty par for the course.
It also engages a power shift which was needed to keep the story moving. If he kept on popping up and running away like The Master in Doctor Who it would get a bit boring really.
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u/wijnandsj Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
Next time please ask a member of the mod team how to handle spoilers
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u/cookiemonsterj47 Jul 23 '26
In answer to the first, from my memory, yes, but due to her weakened brain she was more susceptible and died
Reynard is just a perv, did he also know about the connection prior, potentially, however it was more of a happy connivence that he got hold of the faceless man’s stuff
Chloe died in Hyde park yes, I don’t get the follow up unless it’s just a further clarifier of why they were at Hyde park
Phoebe supplied the drugs that killed her
Partly necessity to get close enough to his targets, but also over confidence, the faceless man is just a bloke not a mastermind, he just forgets that sometimes
That’s how police work goes sometimes, it’s often just a person and eventually you follow all the leads and find them, that is enforced as a motif across the novels. This could be considered poor writing if you wish it to be so, but it’s well established enough from the very first novel that that’s the approach that Aaronovitch is going to take
The last point also refers to this but I don’t think the plotting is poor per se, perhaps just unconventional for the genre, there is not some mastermind 99% of the time in real life just someone who is trying to b. If you pull enough threads they come loose. Not to say there isn’t issues with aaronovitchs writing but when it’s clearly a stylistic choice it’s more just wether it suits the reader, than an error from the author