Cozy Monday

Murder in Morningside Heights (Gaslight Mystery #19) by Victoria Thompson (Berkley Prime Crime hardcover, 3 May 2016).

Sometimes, I feel the need to read a historical mystery, and Victoria Thompson's latest Gaslight Mystery fit the bill.  Even though I haven't read any of the previous books in the series, the bones of the story were pretty easy to pick up.

Our protagonists are former midwife Sarah Brandt Malloy and former New York City Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy.  Recently married, they've moved into a mansion that Frank built with funds from a large inheritance he recently received.  Now that Frank is a man of means, he's started detective agency.

He and his assistant, Gino Donatelli, are visited by a Mr. and Mrs. Northrup of Tarrytown (about 25 miles north of Manhattan), who hire him to look into the murder of their daughter Abigail.  

Abigail Northrup's parents had sent her to the Normal School of Education, a women's college, and upon graduation, had been hired as a teacher there, against her parents wishes.  Her body was found in a gazebo on the grounds of the college, stabbed through the eye with a screwdriver.

Although Frank doesn't quite understand the "New Woman" (his wife notwithstanding), he finds Abigail's murder quite a puzzle, and agrees to take the case.  As he begins his investigation, he realizes that he knows next to nothing about institutions of higher learning. He also realizes that he'll have to involve his wife in the investigation, as she knows much more about the behavior of the wealthy socialites than he.

Thompson writes in a charmingly formal style that could easily flow from the pen of an author in the 19th Century.  The mystery is gripping, and there are enough possible culprits to make it a real whodunit.  

I'm intrigued enough to want to read the previous 18 books in the series, (I really want to know how Sarah and Frank met, and where Frank's inheritance came from) and looking forward to immersing myself in them soon.


The publisher has generously offered a copy of Murder in Morningside Heights to one of my readers. Please comment below by 12:01 a.m. on Monday, May 23rd. Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win. Entries from the U.S. only, please.


FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy of the book.

Teen Tuesday

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly (Delacorte Press hardcover, 27 October 2015).

As the only daughter of the wealthy American aristocrat Charles Montfort, 17-year-old Josephine is expected to graduate from finishing school and marry a rich, well-born young man.  But in late 19th Century New York, things are changing, and Jo would much rather become a journalist like her heroine Nellie Bly.

Even though she fights with the administration to publish some of her investigative pieces in the school newspaper, Jo's life is pretty rosy.

Until she receives the news that her father has died from a gunshot.  Her uncle manages to keep the detail that it was deliberately self-inflicted out of the newspapers, but Jo knows that her father was too experienced to clean a loaded gun.

On a stealthy visit to a newspaper that her father owns, she hears a young reporter claim that Charles' partners paid to keep quiet the fact that his death was really a murder.  Jo strikes up a friendship with Eddie, and his pal Oscar, a medical student who works at the morgue.

Jo defies propriety by teaming up with the two young men to find out what really happened to Charles, and in the process learns about things that Young Ladies should never even think of: poverty, prostitution, and child labor, for starters.

Class and gender differences of the period may be surprising to some teen readers, but Jennifer Donnelly is an experienced writer of historical fiction, and her research is accurate and thorough.

The novel is fast-paced and gripping.  I read it in a single afternoon, and would dearly love to read more of Jo Montfort's story.




FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for the e-galley.

Thriller Thursday

The Tesla Legacy (Joe Tesla #2) by Rebecca Cantrell (CreateSpace trade paperback, 22 January 2015).

Joe Tesla's father has passed away and left him a box full of papers which include the plans for Nikola Tesla's legendary Oscillator. The papers also include what seems to be a a treasure map leading to something that may very well be an actual Oscillator.  

As Joe tries to follow the clues without leaving the security of his underground haven, someone attempts to lure him into the open and steal the map.  Joe has his ultra-loyal security team and, of course his service dog, Edison. His rival has no Edison, but lacks Joe's stifling agoraphobia.

Not knowing what the treasure is, or even if there is one, doesn't make the hunters any less determined.  

In the sequel to The World Beneath, we learn about Joe Tesla's childhood, his circus-performer mother, the strict father who insisted that Joe focus on his schoolwork, and live up to his ancestor the famous scientist.  While detailing Joe's family history, Cantrell manages to sneak in the history of Nikola Tesla, which is helpful to those of us who weren't paying attention in science class .  

Rebecca Cantrell has created a fast-paced thriller that you may just read in one sitting, as I did.

FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the author for sending me a digital copy of the book to review.