Customer Reviews

Murder on Gramercy Park (Gaslight Mystery)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

New York Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy summons Sarah Brandt, a midwife, to the elegant home of famed magnetic healer Edmund Blackwell. Mrs. Blackwell has gone into labor after finding her husband dead in their home.

Frank determines that Mr. Blackwell was murdered although it appears the killer tried to make it look like suicide. As he begins investigating, Sarah, who has helped him with previous investigations, has to keep returning to the Blackwell's since their new son has become ill. In her many trips to their home, she begins to find out some important information regarding his death. Frank does not want her helping with the investigation, but realizes his wishes will not be heeded.

Frank and Sarah find that things were not as happy in the Blackwell household as first thought. Then there are all Mr. Blackwell's female clients who seem overly upset over his death. And there is a scandal that was about to be made known in Blackwell's past. Is his assistant too eager to take over? Who killed him and why? Could it have been regarding one of these issues or is there another issue they don't know about yet.

Normally I don't like mysteries set back in time, but this is one of the few series that are the exception. This series is so well written. The characters are so real and the time-period laid out so well. I often find myself amazed that the police back then were so brutal and so many people were living well below poverty. The darkness of New York really adds to this series. Her writing of the time and the way she lays out the story without giving the killer away is terrific. You never know until the killer is revealed who did it.

This cozy mystery is great. I highly recommend this book as well as the whole series.

This was my first VT book and since reading this I have become hooked on her work. I am currently reading Murder on Mulberry Bend. VT's books may be simplier than the average Hitchcock-type mysteries but she's lacking nothing in terms of great dialogue, interesting characters and a fast-moving plot. If you're seeking hardcore mystery in which you need a degree in crime-solving to figure out than VT's books may not be for you. But if you're into old mystery classics such as Agatha Christie's Poirot, then you'll enjoy VT's work. And as Agatha Christie's work always points out, just because it's easy to figure out doesn't mean it's not worth the read. The same goes for VT. Give her a chance if you haven't ever read her work. I did and I am not disappointed. I just bought two more of her books today.

MURDER ON GRAMERCY PARK is the best book yet in the series. It stands on it's own merits, but I think it's helpful to have read the previous two books so the reader can get a good feel for how the relationship between Sarah and Frank is developing. This book had an interesting mystery that had me turning pages and I can't wait until the next installment so I can find out how Brian's surgery went !

I have all of the books in this series and enjoyed all of them. If you like Anne Perry you will like Victoria Thompson. The latest one of Victoria Thompson's I found to be as engrossing as her earlier ones. She will keep you guessing until the very end. The characters are real and interesting. I can't wait for her next book.

This is the third and best installment of the Gaslight Mystery series featuring midwife Sarah Brandt and detective sergeant Frank Malloy. In Murder on Grammercy Park they are reunited to find the murderer of a popular society healer and to discover the killer of two subsequent murders. Thompson's historic and social details of the time period are close to perfect, and the way she weaves in the growing attraction between the characters is wonderful. I can hardly wait for the next book.

Murder on Gramercy Park by Victoria Thompson is the third book in the Gaslight Mystery series starring midwife Sarah Brandt and Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy. In this entry, Edmund Blackwell a magnetic healer is murdered in his own home, and it seems like everyone had a reason to kill him, including his pregnant wife, his unknown son, his business partner and many more. Thompson does a good job spreading the blame around so that everyone looks guilty. The growing relationship between Sarah and Frank is gaining strength as they both acknowledge their feelings for each other. The dialogue isn't as snappy as in other mysteries, but it's still very enjoyable to read.

This is the third in the series and just as good as the first two novels. It is well written and presents engaging (and sometimes quite amusing) characters. The series seems to flow quite well with plausible story lines and various side themes constantly developing to keep the reader interested in the main characters and the next novel. This series reminds me a lot of Anne Perry's victorian mysteries with Charlotte Pitt.

This third book in Thompson's Gaslight Series takes place mostly in a neighbourhood that is much more well-to-do than where Sarah Brandt or Malloy are used to, but Sarah's birthright aids her in dealing with the protagonists in this book, since she comes from very high society indeed. The book begins with the birth of a baby, and nothing is unusual about that since Sarah is a midwife, but the birth has come shortly after a man has been found shot dead in this house. Is it suicide, as it is made to look? Both Malloy and Sarah know that this is not a suicide, and they set out to find the killer. On the way they uncover so many family secrets, that they almost have more suspects than killers. These books are pretty well-written and immensely entertaining.

One day I was looking for something new to read and stumbled on Victoria Thompson's series with Frank Malloy and Sarah Brandt. I was so surprised as I started to ready Astor Place, then St. Mark's Place and now Grammercy Park - they are great! I can't put them down once I start.

They are worth the read!

First of all - don't write this book off completely. The actual mystery plot equals - or even betters - the plot of Ms Thompson's first two books. It has a very nice twist - so if I were rating her outline, I'd give it 5 stars. However, we don't read outlines, do we? The dialog is weak and repetitive (same phrase or cliché often appearing on the same page twice or repeated throughout the book), the character development is non-existent. Sarah (our sleuthing midwife) and Frank (NY Police detective) have known each other for several months - they are becoming friends (against their better judgements) and we need to see more of this. No, I'm not asking for full-blown romance (yet - although I suspect that's down the pike), since it has only been a few months - but we need to see more of their character. The character development in the first two books was wonderful - it just seems to go away here. And the other players in this mystery - yuck. You just don't get a feel for any of them, even the morphine-addicted mother who is a prime suspect. I suspect that Ms Thompson pretty much had the first two books written by the time she got a publisher to publish the first one - then she had to rush out the third, so she could get on a "once a year" schedule. We've seen that in other series, and the quality always suffers. It's a shame - this plot is a cracker jack mystery - but the book is really rather dull. I'll buy book #4 - but if it's like this one, I won't go for #5. Life is too short to read bad dialog!