Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
68th out of 786 books
—
1,639 voters
Murder on Astor Place (Gaslight Mystery #1)
by
Victoria Thompson (Goodreads Author)
As a midwife in turn-of-the-century New York, Sarah Brandt has seen pain and joy. Now she will work for something more--a search for justice--in a case of murder involving one of New York's richest families.
Mass Market Paperback, 278 pages
Published
May 1st 1999
by Berkley Prime Crime
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
A fairly competent little gas-light thriller set in Victorian era New York.
While not exactly a memorable entry in the genre in wasn't so bad that I couldn't finish it...I guess that's a recommendation of sorts;-)
While it was relatively inoffensive it wasn't good enough that I feel I *have* to read the rest of the series. Part of it may be that I've read some really excellent books lately and compared to them it just doesn't quite measure up.
While not exactly a memorable entry in the genre in wasn't so bad that I couldn't finish it...I guess that's a recommendation of sorts;-)
While it was relatively inoffensive it wasn't good enough that I feel I *have* to read the rest of the series. Part of it may be that I've read some really excellent books lately and compared to them it just doesn't quite measure up.
This is my kind of book! Murder; horror, mystery, and a little romance! I wonder when Sarah and Mr. Malloy will fall in love.
The first in the Gaslight Mystery series.
This book takes place in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. Our heroine is Sarah Brandt a midwife and widow who was brought up in upper society but married a doctor - and eschewed the life she lived for that with the man she loved. As a result she walks rather freely in all circles of society - which helps when she ends up involved in a mystery.
While helping to deliver a baby at a rooming house Sarah see's a girl that looks very like an old...more
This book takes place in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. Our heroine is Sarah Brandt a midwife and widow who was brought up in upper society but married a doctor - and eschewed the life she lived for that with the man she loved. As a result she walks rather freely in all circles of society - which helps when she ends up involved in a mystery.
While helping to deliver a baby at a rooming house Sarah see's a girl that looks very like an old...more
I'm not going to review each book of this series. I'd rather do a review of the series when I am done with it. But so far, the story and developing relationship between Sarah Brandt and Sergeant Detective Frank Malloy are well set up. Sarah is a young widow and a midwife in New York in the late 19th century. She's coming from the upper class but had some issues with her parents and decided to live on her own and have a trade to support herself. Malloy is a detective in the NYPD which at the time...more
I finished this book in less than 12 hours and I probably would have finished it much faster except I made myself put it down for a while in order to finish another book... Needless to say, I loved it! Sarah Brandt and Frank Malloy are fascinating, wonderful, and deliciously flawed characters. Yes, I said flawed. And I love them all the more for their flaws. They have faced many challenges in their lives and come from completely different worlds, so naturally one would assume they shouldn't see...more
I am a big fan of Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series, about a female private investigator/psychologist in post WWI London, having read all of the books. Chelsea Clinton is also a fan, posting on Facebook about her memories of reading the books with her grandmother. Chelsea asked if anyone had recommendations for books like Maisie, and someone posted about Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mystery series, about Sarah Brandt, a midwife living in New York City around the turn of the 20th century....more
3 likes · like · see review
view all 5 comments
"Murder on Astor Place" is a historical mystery set in or a little after 1895 in New York City. Vivid historical details were woven into the story to bring it alive in my imagination. The characters were also a product of their time. The author clearly did her homework in researching this information, but she only wove in what was relevant so that the pacing didn't slow.
As for the mystery, I predicted some of where it was going long before the heroine and detective thought of it. However, it was...more
As for the mystery, I predicted some of where it was going long before the heroine and detective thought of it. However, it was...more
Victoria Thompson
Murder on Astor Place (1999) introduces Sarah Brandt, a young widow estranged from her wealthy family and working as a midwife. While trying to visit one of her patients, Sarah discovers that a young boarder at the rooming house has been murdered. Sergeant Frank Malloy, annoyed by her persistence, asks Sarah to help examine the young woman’s clothing for clues to her identity. Sarah discovers a medical implement used by abortionists as well as the girl’s name, Alicia VanDamm, em...more
Murder on Astor Place (1999) introduces Sarah Brandt, a young widow estranged from her wealthy family and working as a midwife. While trying to visit one of her patients, Sarah discovers that a young boarder at the rooming house has been murdered. Sergeant Frank Malloy, annoyed by her persistence, asks Sarah to help examine the young woman’s clothing for clues to her identity. Sarah discovers a medical implement used by abortionists as well as the girl’s name, Alicia VanDamm, em...more
Sarah Brandt is a midwife, widow of a doctor, living on her own in late 1890s New York City, who sees the underside of life in the tenements where her patients live. Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy is working hard and saving his money for the bribes it will cost to become a Captain in the police force, once new reformer Commissioner Teddy Roosevelt has lost interest and the force returns to the old corrupt ways, as Frank believes it will. Sarah briefly sees a beautiful young woman one night in a...more
I saw an ad for Victoria Thompson in the back of one of the recent Christie novels I read, so when I was at the bookstore, I picked up her first one. I wasn't disappointed.
Her use of the turn-of-the-century New York City made me smile first off. It was such an interesting time period (and I have a fondness for Teddy Roosevelt, I won't lie) and I've lived in NY my whole life. So to read about my "backyard", so to speak, was nice.
Characters first: We have Sarah Brandt, a midwife with a past that i...more
Her use of the turn-of-the-century New York City made me smile first off. It was such an interesting time period (and I have a fondness for Teddy Roosevelt, I won't lie) and I've lived in NY my whole life. So to read about my "backyard", so to speak, was nice.
Characters first: We have Sarah Brandt, a midwife with a past that i...more
Now here is a mystery series that I am very happy to have found! It is set in New York City (with much of the action based on the Lower East Side and environs) in the late 1890s. The protagonist is Sarah, a woman who was born into a society family, but severed ties to her family in order to marry the man she loved (someone her parents disapproved of). When we meet her, she is a young widow who has become a midwife, thus earning some independence and privacy in a very restricted time and place. T...more
I really loved the fact that this series takes place in New York, instead of in London like in most of these kinds of books. I loved the two main characters, I loved the dialogues, I loved the atmosphere, I loved the plot... Seriously, it couldn't get any better than that.
I read the first four books of this series in German as well as in English and I can only recommend that everybody, who's even a little bit capable of the English language, is better going to read these books in English.
IF th...more
I read the first four books of this series in German as well as in English and I can only recommend that everybody, who's even a little bit capable of the English language, is better going to read these books in English.
IF th...more
Even though I'm done with the book, the jury is still out on what I thought.
It took me four days to read 278 pages -- and I wasn't terribly busy during that timeframe. I obviously wasn't eager to get back to it but when I was reading, I somewhat enjoyed the story as the plot unfolded.
The story just wasn't exciting. There was nothing that grabbed me and I never had a desire to say, 'Wow, what happens next??" But I enjoyed the characters and turn-of-they-century period. Sarah, the midwife, is a s...more
It took me four days to read 278 pages -- and I wasn't terribly busy during that timeframe. I obviously wasn't eager to get back to it but when I was reading, I somewhat enjoyed the story as the plot unfolded.
The story just wasn't exciting. There was nothing that grabbed me and I never had a desire to say, 'Wow, what happens next??" But I enjoyed the characters and turn-of-they-century period. Sarah, the midwife, is a s...more
This book is actually a 3.7.
New York City is the real main character here, which is a bonus to me as I'm a New Yorker, but this isn't the NYC that tourists know. This is the NYC of old. Crime, corruption, dirt, whores, rape, murder - this is the NYC that is trying to turn seedy into livable.
It's 1895, Teddy Roosevelt is President of the NYC Police Commissioners. He is cleaning up the city by trying to make the police department less corrupt. Sgt. Det. Frank Malloy is a widowed cop with a few tr...more
New York City is the real main character here, which is a bonus to me as I'm a New Yorker, but this isn't the NYC that tourists know. This is the NYC of old. Crime, corruption, dirt, whores, rape, murder - this is the NYC that is trying to turn seedy into livable.
It's 1895, Teddy Roosevelt is President of the NYC Police Commissioners. He is cleaning up the city by trying to make the police department less corrupt. Sgt. Det. Frank Malloy is a widowed cop with a few tr...more
1 like · like · see review
This was another discovery because of my reading challenge. The task was to read a book an author you like has recommended. It was a little difficult to find author recommendations. Borders or Barnes & Noble had a list on their website, but nothing struck me from there. So, I looked at a few author websites. I knew Meg Cabot had a blog, so I started skimming that and discovered that she'd recommended this book. When I got it from the library, I noticed it also had a blurb from another author...more
Mar 24, 2011
Trish Lata Gooljarsingh
added it
I have just started reading this first book in the gaslight series and I am totally enchanted. I grew up reading Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen so I really love a good mystery novel. I chanced upon this book in Barnes and Noble on my way to the bathroom. The name is what struck me "Victoria Thompson," and immediately I picked it up and started reading. I am now halfway through the first book and I am besotted with Sarah Brandt, a women ahead of her time and Detective Mallory, the grumpy,self-c...more
I stumbled upon this little historical mystery, the first in the Gaslight Mystery series, at the library and checked it out on impulse. And I very much enjoyed it. I'm not a huge historical mystery fan, but Thompson picked a setting I couldn't resist (Gilded Age New York City) and a protagonist who is fiercely independent while still keeping within the historical confines of the setting. Sarah Brandt is a young widow who has thrown off the traces of her wealthy New York family and lives simply a...more
This is a good cozy mystery with a historical fiction background of New York City in the 1890s. Sarah Brandt was born to a wealthy family and she could have lived a life of leisure in society. Sarah who is a strong and proud woman has rejected the life of luxury and has (shockingly) chosen to make her own living as a midwife.
Sarah is drawn into solving a murder mystery with a New York City detective because she was delivering a baby on the night the murder took place and recognizes the young gir...more
Sarah is drawn into solving a murder mystery with a New York City detective because she was delivering a baby on the night the murder took place and recognizes the young gir...more
I'm trying to branch into mysteries. This is not the direction to go in.
A midwife gets caught up in a murder -- of good breeding, she's now a working woman, and the discovery that the victim too was of a well-to-do family, but that the crime will be hushed up to preserve their reputation draws her in.
Lots of family sordidness (although dealt with in a non-sordid manner, if that makes sense; some authors revel in that sort of thing but here Thompson makes it clear that the people who were involve...more
A midwife gets caught up in a murder -- of good breeding, she's now a working woman, and the discovery that the victim too was of a well-to-do family, but that the crime will be hushed up to preserve their reputation draws her in.
Lots of family sordidness (although dealt with in a non-sordid manner, if that makes sense; some authors revel in that sort of thing but here Thompson makes it clear that the people who were involve...more
3 likes · like · see review
First book in the Gaslight Mystery series by Victoria Thompson
Set in New York City in the last years of the 19th century, it's the locale & the history of the era that's the most compelling part of the book. We're introduced to the 2 main characters: Sarah Brandt, once a daughter of privilege, now a widow & midwife and Frank Malloy, a detective sergeant in the NYPD with ambitions to become captain one day. The two meet when a young girl is murdered at a boarding house where Sarah has bee...more
Set in New York City in the last years of the 19th century, it's the locale & the history of the era that's the most compelling part of the book. We're introduced to the 2 main characters: Sarah Brandt, once a daughter of privilege, now a widow & midwife and Frank Malloy, a detective sergeant in the NYPD with ambitions to become captain one day. The two meet when a young girl is murdered at a boarding house where Sarah has bee...more
Four stars worth of love for the idea - a born-wealthy-but-disowned widow works as a midwife and comes across a girl who looks like an old school acquaintance. The girl is murdered and our heroine Sarah is drawn into the investigation by our police-detective hero Frank. Characterization is a little flat but the history is very interesting, especially because we're firmly in Victorian...New York City. Some overdone coincidences and a definitely predictable creepyfactor ending but overall I can't...more
This book really took me back to early American life in the 1900's. The life of a midwife was not easy and it showed it. I loved all the little details and kept me wondering what would happen next.
The main character is a midwife who discovers a little excitement in her life when she investigates a murder at a rooming house when she goes to check on one of her patients. You learn that Teddy Roosevelt, someone we all learn about in history class, is portrayed in these books. I won't say how. A...more
The main character is a midwife who discovers a little excitement in her life when she investigates a murder at a rooming house when she goes to check on one of her patients. You learn that Teddy Roosevelt, someone we all learn about in history class, is portrayed in these books. I won't say how. A...more
This is the first book in Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mystery series. The main characters are Sarah Brandt, a widowed midwife, and Frank Malloy, a widowed cop. The setting is the early 1900's in New York City when the cops were crooked, and class divisions were very much the norm. Sarah is from one of New York's most prominent families but had been shunned when she married a physician who was not from a prominent family. Then when he dies and she becomes a nurse and midwife she has basically cu...more
Of course, I never follow the correct order for books in a series. This is the premiere book of the Gaslight series set in New York City in the 1890's. I have already read two later books and enjoyed the series so much, that I have purchased all the earlier books. The characters are introduced from Sarah Brandt to Frank Mallory to Teddy Roosevelt. Thompson does a wonderful job showing the huge gap between the rich and the poor in their lodgings, character, rules, and clothing. I like Sarah who l...more
Fun! I'd been floating around since reading Michael Sullivan's Riyria Revelations -- which was amazing and a tough act to follow -- and found a new mystery series which follows the crime-solving adventures of midwife Sarah Brandt and Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy. I'm not comparing Sullivan's complex and brilliant Revelations with the Gaslight Mystery series -- they're apples and oranges -- but I always find it hard to follow up a great read with something I can get excited about. Thompson's b...more
I enjoyed this book and loved that the next nine in the series were available in paperback. #10 ended so close to a major development---learning the truth behind the murder of the main character's husband---that I read the eleventh in hardback. The female who is the main character--a widowed midwife in New York City--- comes from a rich family but helps the poor who need her and always finds herself in the middle of murder investigations. I learned a lot about the social conventions of the time...more
A bit of a disappointment, although I should have realized from the beginning that there was no way this book could compare to the likes of Caleb Carr. Sort of a cheap imitation.
It was a good "vacation read," easy to digest and not very deep at all. There was a serious lack of detail which I had been looking forward to. Instead of explaining the vast differences in the classes, the author just keeps repeating the fact that there WERE differences. Of course there were differences! Tell me more ab...more
It was a good "vacation read," easy to digest and not very deep at all. There was a serious lack of detail which I had been looking forward to. Instead of explaining the vast differences in the classes, the author just keeps repeating the fact that there WERE differences. Of course there were differences! Tell me more ab...more
2 likes · like · see review
This book was suggested to me by one of the librarians who noticed that I'd been checking out lots of historical mysteries.
This was a pretty good read. The writing was good, but not exceptional, and both its pacing and characterization were consistent.
The major thing that bugged me was that I felt a definite "smart female/stupid male" vibe from the very beginning of the book. I can't think of one male character in the book who wasn't dysfunctional in a major way. Many of the female characters...more
This was a pretty good read. The writing was good, but not exceptional, and both its pacing and characterization were consistent.
The major thing that bugged me was that I felt a definite "smart female/stupid male" vibe from the very beginning of the book. I can't think of one male character in the book who wasn't dysfunctional in a major way. Many of the female characters...more
A good Victorian mystery about a widow, Sarah who is now a midwife. She comes from an upper crust family but has been estranged from them since the murder of her husband.
While attending the delivery of a baby in a boarding house, she sees a young girl who looks a lot like someone Sarah knew while in school. She realizes that it is the sister of someone she went to school with. She believes Alicia is pregnant but not quite sure because she only had a fleeting glance while delivering.
A couple of...more
While attending the delivery of a baby in a boarding house, she sees a young girl who looks a lot like someone Sarah knew while in school. She realizes that it is the sister of someone she went to school with. She believes Alicia is pregnant but not quite sure because she only had a fleeting glance while delivering.
A couple of...more
This is the first book in a series and it was interesting but didn't really grab me - I think there was a little too much secondary character development and not enough primary character development and it slowed things down too much for a mystery. It was still good enough for me to read the second and third books and they have gotten consistently better so I plan to keep reading the series. It's a series with the same characters so there is something of a formula here but it's more about the wa...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Edgar® Nominated author Victoria Thompson writes the Gaslight Mystery Series, set in turn-of-the-century New York City and featuring midwife Sarah Brandt. Her last book, MURDER ON FIFTH AVENUE, has been nominated for an Agatha Award. Her latest, MURDER IN CHELSEA, is a May 2013 release from Berkley Prime Crime. She also contributed to the award winning writing textbook MANY GENRES/ONE CRAFT. A pop...more
More about Victoria Thompson...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
