'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 discovery the truth about who he really is...'
My thoughts:
**Spoiler Alert**
This series is one that I continuously come back to over and over again. I simply adore the characters and know that when I read a book in this series, I will love it and be certainly amused. This book of course was true to that idea and I was not disappointed. This book is a little different from the others in the series as it features the secondary characters and Frank and Sarah are not the ones solving the mystery in this one. It was a nice surprise and it was well done. Frank and Sarah's absence did nothing to hurt the book and I found it most definitely to be a great installment to an already fantastic series. I like how the author tried something new with the series and it really was nice to see the secondary characters take the forefront in this novel.
Frank and Sarah are on their honeymoon in Europe and everybody else has remained behind in New York City and are anxiously preparing for their return and for the upcoming Christmas holiday. That is until a friend of Mrs. Malloy shows up unexpectedly at the front door. Her daughter has been arrested for brutally killing her husband and she needs Frank's help immediately. Of course, with Frank and Sarah out of the country, they cannot help, however Maeve and Mr. and Mrs. Decker cannot let someone who needs help go without. They have participated in enough murder investigations and decide that they will help Mrs. O'Neill.
This book was hard to put down and was a nice read. I enjoyed the development of the characters and can't wait to see how the author uses them in the future installments of this series. Things certainly have changed from the way it was in the books in the beginning of this series and I feel that the series is on a pivotal point and will change the characters from this point forward. A fantastic read all around and one that surely hit the spot.
Overall Rating: 5+
Title: Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue
Author: Victoria Thompson
Series: Gaslight Mystery #18
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: November 3, 2015
Pages: 320
Genre: Historical Fiction
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was selected from the library by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.