Victoria Thompson

In turn-of-the century New York City, midwife Sarah Brandt and Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy see birth and death--and even murder...

A Gaslight Mystery

Murder on St. Mark's Place

Victoria E. Thompson

"As a midwife in the turn-of-the-century tenements of New York City, Sarah Brandt has seen suffering and joy, birth and death--and even murder. And the crime-ridden streets of the teeming city offer little relief from either...Thinking she has been summoned by German immigrant Agnes Otto to usher a new life into the world, Sarah Brandt is greeted by the news of an untimely death instead. It seems that Agnes's beautiful young sister, Gerda, had fallen into the life of a 'Charity Girl.' Caught up in the false glamour of the city's nightlife, she would trade her company--and her favors--not for money, but for lavish gifts and an evening's entertainment. And now she was dead, victim, no doubt, at the hands of one of her 'gentlemen friends.' No one cares much about the fate of girls like Gerda--but Sarah does. And she vows to find her killer. To do so, she turns to Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy. As the two pursue an investigation that leads from the bright lights of Coney Island to the stately homes of Fifth Avenue, they find that their shared passion for justice may cost them dearly..."--Cover, p. 4.

I thought this was the first in the series for some reason, so I got a bit thrown off at the beginning when the protagonist talked about her "first" murder mystery.

I think it could be a really nice series in the long run. I liked how the time period was handled and that it was shown from a lot of different viewpoints. I do think that maybe there was more extraneous plot than I thought there would be. It just seemed kind of dark for what I thought was going to be a cozy mystery. It is not what I'd consider a cozy mystery by any means. There was domestic abuse and some harsh realities that I personally don't associate with the subgenre. I personally look for the sillier ones where reality gets suspended for a bit. But, that's just my preference.

If you're looking for a darker "cozy" mystery, then this series is it.

In a novel set in turnofthecentury New York, a midwife and a cop investigate the murder of a charity girl, who traded her favors for trinkets and ended up killed by one of her clients. Original.

Murder on St. Mark's Place A Gaslight Mystery

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