This book would have gotten a higher rating except I felt like it could have been 3/4 of the length. So many times I felt like I was being told the same things over and over again. For example (this isn't a spoiler) the hangman has a lot of medical knowledge and has a large collection of books about medicine. I feel like the hangman's library was mentioned over and over again without need. The only other complaint I have about the book is that all of the characters can seem like the same person until you get all the names and titles straight.
Overall I really really enjoyed the plot and characters in this book I just though the end dragged tremendously and could have been shortened up to make it faster paced and more exciting.