Brenna B. (demiducky25) reviewed on 10/18/2009 + 161 more book reviews

This is the 9th book in Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mysteries series. Midwife Sarah Brandt is called to deliver a baby in Chinatown. While there, she encounters the woman's niece, Angel Lee, who is half Chinese and half Irish (as many children in Chinatown were at this time since Chinese women were not allowed to enter the USA at this point). Angel is upset because her father wants to marry her off to a much older, wealthy, Chinese man. Not long after, Angel runs away with her secret lover, a young, poor Irish man. Her family is unable to convince her to return home, and not long after that, Angel turns up dead. Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy is brought in at Sarah Brandt's request to investigate the case. This particular book gives the reader an interesting look at the prejudices faced by both the Irish and the Chinese in NYC at this time. These prejudices aid in clouding the facts of the case, especially when two of the lead suspects are the men mentioned before. Angel's relatives would like to see her young Irish lover be the guilty one, and her husband's family would like to see Angel's Chinese intended be guilty of the crime. I personally felt Thompson did a great job of building the plot to help the reader figure out just before the end "whodunit" and the twist that goes with it!

My only complaint is similar to the one I made in my review of Murder on Lenox Hill, that the Malloy-Brandt relationship needs to step it up a notch! It's apparent that they care for each other, but neither is willing to admit it, making their interactions with each other frustrating for the reader at times. Also, in this book you do get to see a little bit more a Maeve's personality than you did in most of the previous books she appeared in.

Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details