The House on Mulberry Street

Dutchman Historical Mystery #5

by Maan Meyers

Late-nineteenth-century New York City police detective John "Dutch" Tonneman becomes disturbed when he links the brutal murder of a journalist to an attractive female photographer whom he has been unable to forget.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Mystery, Historical

312 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

A pseudonym used by husband and wife team of Martin Meyers and Annette Meyers who also write individually under their own names.

Series:
* Dutchman Historical Mystery

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

PLOT OR PREMISE:
Esther Breslau is a Jewish immigrant who has found a job working as a photographer in the graft-filled world of 1895 Manhattan. John Tonnerman is an honest cop, a rare commodity on a police-force filled with those on the take and in a city where your innocence depends on the size of your pocketbook. Esther takes a picture during a riot and the thugs notice and come after her. A reporter she has been working with has the plates but the thugs worry about what he knows and take matters into their own hands to silence him forever. John and Esther try to figure it all out.
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WHAT I LIKED:
The research was impeccable, and the epilogue is a nice touch to separate fact from fiction. The writing is first-rate and the settings are alive with the time. Each image portrays the world of the time, and the reader is transported easily with each page.
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WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
A couple of small nit-picky points -- there are a a lot of characters, which can be a problem to track in mystery stories, but they are sufficiently different here that they don't run together as much. A few of the characters (such as the reporter) were fleshed out a little TOO much, but I'm assuming part of that was with a view to them showing up in future stories too.
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BOTTOM-LINE:
One of the best historical mysteries I have read
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DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Least successful of Meyers’ books, I think. This takes place in New York City in the 1890’s, with the plot line concerning the corrupt police department. There is too great a gap between the other books and this one, so that the family tree is full of people we’ve never heard of, and I thought it confusing. Perhaps the authors plan to go back and fill in the gaps later. John “Dutch” Tonneman is on the police force; meets Esther Breslau, a Polish Jewish immigrant photographer who takes a picture a criminal wants.

[Keri]

I enjoyed this book.Never heard of author or this series of books before.The description of the story piqued my interest and it was well worth the read.

[Andrea Robinson]

Another great mystery about early New York City.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the historical detail in this book. I felt like I was really there, in 1895 New York. I definitely want to read the other books in the Tonneman series.