Cheryl R. (Spuddie) - , reviewed on 11/4/2005 + 412 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 14

This is the first in Victoria Thompson's "Gaslight" mystery series set in early 1900's New York. I really was prepared to not like this book as this time period is not my favorite for historical mysteries (I prefer earlier middle ages/medieval times), but I found myself very pleasantly surprised. Sarah Brandt is a widow and midwife who gave up a life of luxury to continue practicing after her physician husband Thomas was brutally killed. She works for pittance--and sometimes not even that--among the city's poor, must to the dismay of her well-born family who are direct Mayflower descendents. In this first book, the young sister of an old school friend of Sarah's is found murdered in a boardinghouse where Sarah has gone to treat the owner of the house. The first mystery--what would a young woman from a wealthy family be doing in a squalid boardinghouse--is part of the mystery of who killed her. Very well done book with a few surprises that made it all the more interesting. An excellent start to a promising series.

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