Category: Mystery
Publisher: Penguin Group
ISBN-13:9780425221518
Series: Gaslight Mystery, #10
Pub. Date: June 2008
Date Read: August 2008
"Frank Malloy didn't like this. Usually, when he investigated a murder, someone was at least a little interested in solving it. But four years after Tom Brandt's death, no one even remembered his name."
It's been four years since the death of Dr. Tom Brandt and since then his widow Sarah Brandt has always wondered who his killer was. Time, her work as a midwife, and the little girl she has adopted have all helped to heal some of her emotional wounds but still she wishes her husband's killer would be brought to justice.
Out of his affection for Sarah, Detective Malloy will try to go back to the scene of the crime but as soon as the investigation starts a lot more questions about Dr. Tom Brandt crop up and Frank is afraid he may have just unconvered the truth about Dr. Brandt.
Dr. Brandt was helping to treat women who had become obsessed with their doctors. The sufferers were unmarried women and thus were said to have Old Maid's Disease. These women were dangerous and ill but Dr. Brandt thought he could treat them. Unfortuantely his methods and ethics were perhaps what led to his murder.
Not only will Detective Malloy have to use help from the Pinkerton Agency, but Maeve, the young girl that helps Sarah keep her house, will also get a chance to help with the investigation. For those familiar with the books, a bit more of Maeve's past is brought up so that makes for an interesting read.
As always author Thompson creates a wonderful backdrop of scenes from turn of the century New York. In each book the reader gets to the know the characters a bit better and one can't help but wait and wonder about Sarah and Frank.
While I think this latest installment has done a great job of setting to rest some of the past issues and at the same time opens the door for more adventures, I do wish Sarah had been a more integral part of the mystery. We didn't see her as involved this time and we also didn't see much of Malloy's interaction with his family. It was nice to see more of Maeve but I wish it hadn't been at the expense of other characters. If anything I think this book could have really benefitted from more pages so we could have gotten a bit more of Sarah and Frank.