MURDER ON ST. NICHOLAS AVENUE is Book 18 in the Gaslight Mystery series by the talented Victoria Thompson. This is a historical detective series, set in 19th century New York City. I always enjoy the details of how people lived in yesteryear America. The main two characters, midwife Sarah Brandt and Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy, come from different ethnic and social classes. The murder investigations always involve both the upper classes as well as the servants or poor working class. This allows the author to show all walks of life in the stories, allowing for a great breadth of interesting facts about society and daily life. These tidbits are adroitly slipped in amongst the details of the crime and investigation though, so the lovely details are anything but dull. Fans of Anne Perry will enjoy this series.

Thompson shares in the Author's Note that her publisher asked her to do a Christmas story featuring some of the secondary characters from the series. Long-time fans of the series will be aware that Sarah Brandt and Frank Malloy just got married at the end of Book 17, MURDER ON AMSTERDAM AVENUE. Sarah and Malloy are away on their honeymoon, leaving Malloy's son and Sarah's adopted daughter at home with Maeve, the nursemaid who has assisted them in their many previous investigations. A woman who knows Malloy's mother stops by his house to beg for his help for her daughter, who has been arrested for killing her new husband. The intrepid Maeve believes that she can help the accused woman while Sarah and Malloy are out of the country.

Gino Donatelli, a cop who has worked with Malloy and who is sweet on Maeve, steps in to assist with the investigation. Sarah Brandt's parents also play a huge part in working the case. We have seen Sarah's mother play an increasing role in solving the cases in this series. Now Sarah's father breaks into the business as well, and is a surprisingly decent chap about it, given his rather stodgy (but appropriate for the time period) behavior in books past. I love the interactions between these main four characters as they really get to shine with Sarah and Malloy out of the picture. I didn't even miss Sarah and Malloy too much, although maybe this is because I know they will be back for the next book. With an engrossing mystery, lively characters, and a wealth of historical detail, Thompson's MURDER ON ST. NICHOLAS AVENUE is sure to please.

Book Summary

The author of Murder on Amsterdam Avenue returns to nineteenth-century New York City to find Christmas in the air, a police detective and a midwife with love in their hearts, and a wealthy newlywed with blood on her hands…

Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy and Sarah Brandt are not the only ones who have recently tied the knot. Family friend Mrs. O’Neill was delighted when her daughter Una wed the seemingly wealthy and charming Randolph Pollock. She didn’t wonder why such an affluent man would want to marry a poor Irish girl, no matter how pretty she was. But now Mrs. O’Neill has a problem.

Pollock’s servants have found their employer bludgeoned to death with Una cradling his body. Rendered mute by the horror of her husband’s death, Una cannot explain what happened, so the police have charged her with murder and locked her away in the Tombs to await trial.

Mrs. O’Neill would like Frank to investigate the case and save Una, yet with Frank and Sarah still on their honeymoon, it’s up to the other members of their newly formed household to do some detective work. But solving the mystery behind Pollock’s death means first discovering the truth about who he really is…