Murder on Waverly Place: A Gaslight Mystery

by Victoria Thompson

Book Overview

Turn-of-the-century New York City shines in the Gaslight mystery series. Midwife and sleuth Sarah Brandt and Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy must protect Sarah's mother from scandal after she tries to contact her dead daughter during a s ance that sends one of the attendees into the afterlife. But first, they have to determine how the woman was murdered in the pitch dark when all the suspects were holding hands.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425235203
• ISBN13: 9780425235201
• Release Date: June 2010
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.1" x 6.6"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

period detail

this series of books, give an authentic snapshot of that period in our US history. the characters are developed and believable - human. the mysteries hold you. i had the luxury of reading the majority of this series en masse. however, now that i have to wait for each installment - i can still stay with the lives of these characters without having to re-read previous installments. Victoria (unlike some authors)does not take half the to book remind the avid or virgin reader to the series of the previous plots and character development

Murder On Waverly Place

I have followed Ms. Thompson's Gaslight Series since the series started. I have enjoyed the mystery,the suspense and the drama of each murder. The relationship between the two main characters is starting to simmer, into what all the readers hope is a lasting partnership. The introduction of the two girls gives the stories even more plots and twists. I would like to hear about the detetive's son and hope he and his grandmother can enter the scene. My exalted Congrats to Ms. Thompson on being able to keep me on the edge on my seat in every mystery. Out all the books in this series I have only solved two.

Outstanding protagonists lead to an incredible story of a daring sleuth's convoluted twists and turn

This Victorian Gaslight mystery is perfect for any library strong in historic mystery settings. Here Sarah Brandt discovers a seance that leads to murder, involving Sarah in another Waverly Place mystery and scandal that threatens to take over the venue and involves her own mother. Outstanding protagonists lead to an incredible story of a daring sleuth's convoluted twists and turns.

Another Spellbinding Read

I enjoyed Victoria Thompson's newest book, "Murder on Waverly Place" very much. I don't understand the negative remarks others have made about her newest novel. I found the plot well developed, the familiar characters engaging, the story attention holding, and the history interesting. Her use of the flashlight in her story was inspired, and her comments at the end of the book about its research for her story were remarkable. Victoria Thompson is an accomplished author, and I love the Gaslight Mystery Series! Keep them coming!

fabulous historical whodunit

At the turn of the twentieth century, Mr. and Mrs. Decker are one of the wealthiest couples in high society New York City, but their daughter Sarah Brandt chose to work as a midwife in the rundown tenement neighborhoods. Sarah's mother asks her to accompany her to a medium's house on Waverly Place because she is desperate to contact the spirit of her dead older daughter Maggie; she wants to ask forgiveness for what she and her spouse did to Maggie and her husband. Sarah understands though she believes contacting spirits is a hoax; she goes with her mother to Madame Serafina's séance. While the room is totally dark, the customers hold hands in a circle around a table; the medium speaks. A baby cries and Mrs. Decker believes it is her dead granddaughter. They leave, but Mrs. Decker returns several times praying Maggie will forgive her. At another séance, someone kills client Mrs. Gittings. Mrs. Decker calls Sarah's "special friend" Police Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy. He and Sarah catch Serafina's lover trying to sneak away. Frank assumes he is the killer, but Sarah and the medium think otherwise. The two feisty females need to figure out who amongst the guests is the killer; the problem is everyone universally detested the victim. Victoria Thompson's latest "Gaslight mystery" brings back a bygone era so vividly readers will believe they attended séances during the first decade of the twentieth century. Fans of the series will relish knowing why Sarah became a midwife and more about why her parents' didn't disown her for her work amidst the city poor. Newcomers as well as readers of the previous murders on Manhattan streets novels will enjoy this well constructed mystery with plenty of viable suspects who have motives and opportunity. Sarah is her usual independent resolute self as she scrutinizes the people in the room where the homicide occurred. MURDER ON WAVERLY PLACE is another fabulous historical whodunit. Harriet Klausner