Murder on Lenox Hill (Gaslight Series #7) by Victoria Thompson

From the Publisher

Midwife Sarah Brandt and Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy's most disturbing case to date begins not with a murder, but with the pregnancy of a young woman-who is mentally still a child herself. And when suspicion falls on a beloved minister, the sordid affair could take its toll in innocent lives.

Publishers Weekly

In Victoria Thompson's Murder on Lenox Hill: A Gaslight Mystery, the well-crafted seventh entry in this late Victorian historical series (after 2004's Murder on Marble Row), midwife Sarah Brandt and her detective friend, Frank Malloy, look into the murder of a popular New York minister, the Rev. Oliver Upchurch, who may have impregnated a lovely but mentally deficient 15-year-old girl. Good plot twists and a highly satisfactory wrapup mark this as the work of a master of the period mystery. Agent, Nancy Yost. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

It isn't enough that turn-of-the-century Manhattan midwife Sarah Brandt's physician husband was murdered; now her career is about to involve her in another crime. Sarah is called in by the Linton family to confirm their fears that their learning-disabled daughter is pregnant. Sarah is caught up in trying to find out who could be responsible for the predicament of Grace, a sweet and lovely girl of 17 who never goes anywhere alone. Sarah calls on her friend Det. Sgt. Frank Malloy, who's still working on the murder of her husband, to help her discover Grace's seducer. Although Sarah works mainly with the poor, she's not above using her parents' social connections to investigate those involved in the church Grace attends. The minister, Oliver Upchurch, seems to be doing fine work with the orphaned boys in his church group. His wife, however, is eccentric and outspoken, a fact her husband blames on her childless state. It's hard to disgorge information from clannish, snobbish Manhattan society, but Sarah, never giving up, discovers some horrifying secrets that lead to a fatality and the official involvement of Malloy (Murder on Marble Row, 2004, etc.) before an ending that isn't quite happily ever after. A convincing tale of depravity and death among the upper classes of old New York.

Product Details

• Table of Contents
• Interviews & Essays

Table of Contents

Interviews & Essays

Ransom Notes: What made you choose the turn-of-the-century New York City setting for your Gaslight mysteries?

VT: My daughter chose to attend New York University in Greenwich Village because of their highly regarded performing arts program. While she was living just a few blocks from Washington Square, I stopped in Barnes & Noble's store in the Village to pick up books on the history of New York to read for fun. I'm not making this up! I was already doing my research before I ever dreamed of writing the series!

The turn of the last century is a particularly interesting time, because the issues people were confronting then are the same ones we're still dealing with-the dangers of looking for Mr. Right, stalkers, middle-class drug abuse, the media's abuse of power, and domestic terrorism, just to name a few.

Murder on Marble Row was inspired by a front-page news story in The New York Times in October 1896. A businessman went to his office one morning, and a bomb that had been concealed there exploded, killing him. Everyone immediately suspected anarchists, but the police failed to properly investigate, so the crime was never solved. I realized this same story could have appeared in today's newspaper, so it seemed a perfect theme for my book.

Murder on Lenox Hill hinges on equally timeless issues, from simple-minded Grace Linton's pregnancy to the church-related scandal that follows, and of course the mental-health aspects of the investigation into those crimes as well as into the death of Sarah's husband.

RN: What made you decide to use young people as a major focus of the crimes in Murder on Lenox Hill?

VT: The most horrible crimes are those perpetrated against the most innocent among us. Even worse is when someone uses a position of power and trust to violate those innocents. I wanted to examine this issue more closely in Murder on Lenox Hill.

RN: Can you tell us anything about your future plans for the Gaslight mystery series?

VT: When author Catherine Coulter gave me a cover quote for the series, I had to promise that Frank and Sarah would eventually be together. I must keep that promise but, fortunately, Catherine didn't set a deadline! We're now getting very close to solving Dr. Brandt's murder. The next book in the series is set in Little Italy, and it's almost finished.

I love to hear from readers. Please email me through my web site, victoriathompson.com. I will put you on my email list and send a notice when the new book is released.