Sunday, June 14, 2015

Murder on Amsterdam Avenue Gaslight Mystery #17) by Victoria Thompson

Historical Mystery

From Goodreads:

In this Gaslight Mystery from the national bestselling author of Murder in Murray Hill, midwife Sarah Brandt and Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy investigate foul play in the secretive high-society world of nineteenth-century New York City…

In the midst of Sarah and Frank’s wedding preparations, Sarah accompanies her mother on a condolence call to the Upper West Side, where Charles Fairfax, the son of family friends, has died unexpectedly after suffering from a mysterious disease. It is a tragic and all too common story—or so it seems. Charles’s father asks to speak with Sarah privately. He believes his son was poisoned and would like Sarah and Frank to look into the matter with the utmost discretion.  

Putting their own personal affairs on hold, Sarah and Frank soon learn that not everyone wants to know more about Charles’s death, particularly if he was murdered. As they unravel secrets that reach back to the War Between the States, they also discover that they are in the company of a very present danger.

With this 17th book Frank and Sarah finally marry but not until the very end of the book.  Frank is not longer with the police.  He could not  be effective there but he can function as a Private Detective and in Murder on Amsterdam Avenue that is what he does.  He is approached by Charles Fairfax’s father who thinks that his son’s death may be murder.  Both Frank and Sarah become a part of the investigation, as do Maeve, Sarah’s Mother and Gino.

Thompson has woven some of the characters from previous books into the story. Gino is one example.  We meet him as a young policeman who left the force to join Teddy Roosevelt in Cuba.  He comes home in this book and Frank hires him to help with the investigation.

Like previous cases this one is full of false clues and complicated history.  I did suspect that one character was not what she appeared and I was right.  However I did not pick out the actual murderer until the very end.

I always know I had a year to wait for the next book but guess what.  Not this time.  Frank and Sarah are off to Europe for their honeymoon and Gino and Maeve will help a young woman falsely accused of murder in Murder on St. Nichols Avenue.  That book will be published in November of this year. There is also a promise of many more adventures for Frank and Sarah.

Just a note.  I have wondered what Sarah is going to do now that she and Frank are married.  She can no longer work as a mid-wife and while Frank goes on to be a private detective Sarah is not one to sit and do nothing.  What does Thompson have planned for her to do?

Berkley Prime Crime published Murder on Amsterdam Avenue by Victoria Thompson in 2015.



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