Murder on Lexington Avenue: A Gaslight Mystery

The Gaslight Mystery series is an enchanting glimpse into a bygone era, while providing the reader with engrossing crime plots, and of course, two very appealing protagonists, midwife Sara Brandt and Detective Sgt. Frank Malloy. This novel is the 12th in the series, each set in a different part of New York City at the turn of the century. The plot revolves around the murder of a wealthy businessman in his office, and the man's aversion to the use of sign language for his deaf daughter. Malloy, as the father of a deaf son studying signing, is assigned to the case. Sarah becomes involved when the widow, being interviewed by Malloy, shows sign of being about to give birth to a baby and the policeman sends for her. There are various suspects and there are many clues for Malloy (and Sarah) to follow. While the murderer's identity may occur to the reader, this fact does not preclude the enjoyment of the unfolding of the tale. Unlike past entries into the series, there is very little in the way of descriptive material about Little Old New York, but there is plenty of information about the teaching of deaf people to communicate, either through signing or lip reading. Recommended.

Victoria Thompson is a master of writing historical novels without them being boring. The characters are interesting and the reader is really immersed in the traditions and lifestyle of the period. I only wish she would take the main characters' relationship to the next level. This is a great and easy read!

The series seemed to stumble a bit with the last release, Murder on Waverly Place. This time, the murder mystery is constructed much better, the witty interaction between Frank Malloy and Sarah Brandt (that seemed to be lacking in the last book) is there, and the requisite historical facts-of-the-time are vital parts of the plot(Princeton's re-naming, the eugenics movement, etc.). Unlike the recent books, which involved more of Sarah's world, this book's mystery is related to something involving Malloy (schools for the deaf- and their varying methods). This book gets to balance the mystery with insights into Malloy--We get to know how grateful he is for Sarah's interference in his life- which has in turn improved his son's quality of life. Since he is no longer hesitant to include and share details of the case with Sarah, and they both get to play key roles in solving the mystery. There is a delightful scene when Sarah recreates for Frank a bit of sign language for him (which she doesn't know the meaning), but for those longing for Malloy and Sarah to finally acknowledge their feelings, well, the progress remains slow. It's a breeze of a read, and it will be hard to wait so long for the next installment (the author seems to be setting up the mystery surrounding what happened to Catherine before she came to live with Sarah).

I am a huge fan of Victoria Thompson and this is one of the best books in the Gaslight Mysteries. The reader learns much more about Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy, in fact he is a more prominent character than Sarah herself. We begin to see that the relationship between Sarah and Frank might be able to overcome obstacles to their growing romance. Is there a softening, however slight, by Sarah's father toward Frank. Frank's mother is starting to take on a more human personality. As Sarah states at the end, could the differences between be slipping away? This reader hopes so! The mystery in the novel is solid and well conceived, with a surprise at the end. Excellent addition to this wonderful series.