Murder on Fifth Avenue
4 Stars

Detective Frank Malloy is surprised to receive a summons from Sarah Brandt's father, the wealthy and powerful, Felix Decker. It seems that a member of the prestigious Knickerbocker club has been found dead on the premises and Decker is in dire need of Malloy's help in solving the crime as discreetly as possible.

Another solid installment in the series and one of the few in which my guess of the culprit's identity turned out to be wrong, so kudos to Thompson for that.

This book presents a number of troubling social perceptions common in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but also disturbingly familiar today such as the limited options available to women without the protection of men, and the notion that people of the lower classes are somehow less important and even less worth of living.

The Decker family dynamics and the interactions between Felix Decker and Frank Malloy are one of the highlights of the book. It does seem that Decker is coming to accept Malloy's role in his daughter's life and one can only hope that their will finally be some progression in Sarah and Frank's romantic relationship.

Overall, this is an entertaining addition to the series.
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This is book fourteen of the Gaslight Mystery series featuring midwife Sarah Brandt and police detective Frank Malloy. Frank is called to the Knickerbocker Club by Felix Decker, Sarah's father, who asks him to discretely investigate the murder of one of the members. Chilton Devries, a nasty but wealthy businessman, appears to have been stabbed by a very thin, sharp object. He didn't realize he was mortally wounded and apparently bled to death internally at the club. Since Devries was such a horrible man, there are numerous suspects. Frank asks Sarah to help him investigate by interviewing the victim's family member. He thinks because she comes from a wealthy society family she may be able to get more information from them than he can.

I enjoy this somewhat cozy historical mystery series. The characters are interesting and it's fun to see Sarah dabble in a little amateur sleuthing. She and Frank share a fun and humorous connection that hasn't turned to romance yet. They are both widowed, Sarah has adopted a young girl, and Frank is father to a young deaf boy. I'm not sure why the author hasn't developed their relationship yet, but am confident that she eventually will.

I read this as a comfort series, one that is familiar but where I learn a little bit about Victorian New York City. The author portrays it in a very atmospheric way. While this wasn't my favorite of the books I've read, I still found it enjoyable and plan to continue with the next book in the series, [b:Murder in Chelsea|15808342|Murder in Chelsea (Gaslight Mystery, #15)|Victoria Thompson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388292657s/15808342.jpg|21532981].
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Love this series....love the development of the characters over the duration of the books

This is book fourteen of the Gaslight Mystery series featuring midwife Sarah Brandt and police detective Frank Malloy. Frank is called to the Knickerbocker Club by Felix Decker, Sarah's father, who asks him to discretely investigate the murder of one of the members. Chilton Devries, a nasty but wealthy businessman, appears to have been stabbed by a very thin, sharp object. He didn't realize he was mortally wounded and apparently bled to death internally at the club. Since Devries was such a horrible man, there are numerous suspects. Frank asks Sarah to help him investigate by interviewing the victim's family member. He thinks because she comes from a wealthy society family she may be able to get more information from them than he can.

I enjoy this somewhat cozy historical mystery series. The characters are interesting and it's fun to see Sarah dabble in a little amateur sleuthing. She and Frank share a fun and humorous connection that hasn't turned to romance yet. They are both widowed, Sarah has adopted a young girl, and Frank is father to a young deaf boy. I'm not sure why the author hasn't developed their relationship yet, but am confident that she eventually will.

I read this as a comfort series, one that is familiar but where I learn a little bit about Victorian New York City. The author portrays it in a very atmospheric way. While this wasn't my favorite of the books I've read, I still found it enjoyable and plan to continue with the next book in the series, [Murder in Chelsea]. ( )

I spent much of Murder on Fifth Avenue thinking I 'd already figured out the killer and the method. I was wrong on both counts, although dead to rights on one of the monstrous deeds the supposed victim did. Indeed, the murdered man was so horrible that if the second murder hadn't taken place (and if it wouldn't have been a very unchristian reaction), it would have been time to break out the champagne. ( )