City of Secrets

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A delectable mystery with just the right amount of revenge. In City of Secrets by Victoria Thompson, Elizabeth Miles has returned from a stint in jail for her part where she met socialite Mrs. Bates. Now Mrs. Bates is trying to teach Elizabeth to navigate the world of New York society.

Elizabeth has spent her early days learning from the Old Man (her father) to be a grifter and a con artist. When she meets Gideon Bates, though, she thinks she might enjoy the society life and adapt to Mrs Bates' lessons.

At church on Sunday, Elizabeth is approached by Priscilla Knight, a young woman newly widowed for the second time in a short period. After her first husband DeForrest Jenks died, it was rumored he had left her penniless. She was so lost in grief and before she knew it, her pastor and his wife coerced her into marrying Endicott Knight.

When he dies, it appears that Endicott did indeed leave her penniless and with a mortgaged house. She asks Elizabeth to help her.

With the assistance of her father and her brother, Elizabeth discovers how the money taken and who has it. Getting it back make City of Secrets quite entertaining.

Murder on Union Square

Sarah and Frank a very close to adopting Catherine, the girl Sarah has been raising as her daughter when they encounter a legal roadblock. In Murder on Union Square by Victoria Thompson, it appears Catherine's birth mother was married to someone who although not the child's father, is legally considered to be the father. I know confusing.

In any case, the Malloy's meet with Parnell Vaughn and he agrees to relinquish parental rights to Catherine. His ambitious fiancee wants money for the child, but although it is illegal to pay for the custody, Frank is determined to finish the process.

The next day he goes to the theatre to give the money to Parnell and have him sign the forms only to find Parnell dead with his head bashed in from a violent attack.

Seizing on the opportunity for more drama, Eliza Grimes starts

screaming that Frank has killed her fiance Parnell. Before you know it, Frank is arrested and taken to The Tombs. Thoroughly mortified, he is finally released and his lawyer advises that if he pays enough money, his case will never go to court. Frank, however, doesn't want his future and his children's futures to exist under a cloud, so he decides to find the real killer.

With the theatre as the backdrop, there is much drama with the other actors. Leading lady and a little over the hill to be playing the ingenue, Adelia Hawkes makes her leading men jump through hopes to get the parts. Parnell Vaughn was one of them. Her husband turns a blind eye and her agent seems to drift in and out of the picture.

With all these characters, it is difficult for Frank and Sarah and their detectives to find the real killer and clear him.

Another excellent period book from Victoria Thompson and the wonderful cast of characters.

A Gaslight Mystery

The 18th book in the Gaslight mystery series, Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue by Victoria Thompson, takes a little twist. Sarah Brandt and Frank Malloy have set off on their honeymoon leaving nanny Maeve Smith and NY police officer Gino Donatelli in charge of the household. When Mrs. O'Neill, a friend of the older Mrs. Mallory, asks for help, Maeve and Gino jump right in.

It seems Mrs. O'Neill's lovely daughter has been arrested for killing her affluent husband, and has been rendered mute and cannot explain what happened. Maeve and Gino have assisted Sarah and Frank in solving other mysteries, but they are not sure what their official role should be. They decide to portray themselves as associates in the newly-formed Malloy Detective Agency. Of course Sarah's wealthy parents - The Deckers - delight in offering their assistance.


As Maeve and Gino delve more deeply into the murder of Randolph Pollock, they discover a missing first wife and a Ponzi scheme to build a railroad in Panama involved several society gentlemen. They soon discover the lovely Mrs. Pollock isn't all she is cracked up to be.

This book was a change of pace for loyal follows of Brandy/Malloy, but Maeve and Gino have played major roles in other books and it was enjoyable to see them unravel the mystery.

These books give the reader an authentic picture of life in New York in the late 1890s and into the beginning of the 20th century.  I've enjoyed getting to know the characters and watching them evolve. You will too.

Other books in this series by Victoria Thompson can be found here.