Murder in Murray Hill by Victoria Thompson

Murder in Murray Hill by Victoria Thompson ISBN-13: 9780425260463 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: May 5, 2015

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
The residents of nineteenth-century New York City turn to midwife Sarah Brandt and Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy to protect them from the worst crimes. Now, the two must track down a criminal preying on innocent women…

Frank Malloy has never known any life other than that of a cop, but his newfound inheritance threatens his position on the force. While trying to keep both his relationship with Sarah and his fortune under wraps, he’s assigned to a new case—finding a missing young woman who had been responding to “lonely hearts” ads in the paper before she disappeared. Malloy fears the worst, knowing that the grifters who place such ads often do much more than simply abscond with their victims.


My Review:
Murder in Murray Hill is a historical mystery set in New York city in the late 1890's. It's the sixteenth book in the series, but this story didn't spoil the previous mysteries. However, the author assumed that the reader had some previous knowledge of the characters and their relationships to each other. The story might be confusing at first if you haven't read any of the previous novels.

There was a nice level of historical detail regarding the city, police, and social structure. The characters were varied and had realistic reactions to events. Frank and Sarah basically gathered clues and followed them up in a logic way until they all fit together to solve the puzzle. The women's kidnapping was a good issue to have in a novel, but it didn't make for light reading as it's still an issue today.

There was a minor amount of bad language. There were no sex scenes, but there were frequent references to rape in a "he raped me" way or in vague terms. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting historical mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.