Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Murder in Rose Hill by Victoria Thompson Series: Gaslight Mystery #27
Published by Berkley on April 23, 2024
Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
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Sarah Malloy has just helped with the delivery of a bouncing baby girl at her women’s clinic, when she receives a visit from an engaging and determined young woman writing an article for New Century Magazine. Louisa Rodgers explains that she is researching the dangers of patent remedies. Sarah is only too happy to tell Louisa exactly what she thinks of the so-called medicines whose ingredients include heavy doses of alcohol and other addictive drugs, and hurt much more than they help. A few days later, Sarah receives a visit from a bereft Bernard Rodgers, who explains that his daughter, Louisa, has been found strangled in the lobby of the building where New Century has its offices. The police have decided it was a random attack and have made no attempt to investigate, hinting that Louisa got what she deserved for sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. Sarah wants justice for the bright young woman but as she and Frank delve deeper into Louisa’s life, they find that nothing is quite as it seemed and Louisa is not who she claimed to be. The Malloys must first solve the mystery of Louisa’s life before they can figure out who wanted to see her dead…
I always love the Gaslight Mystery series and look forward to each one. I’ve enjoyed the various characters but was glad Frank and Sarah were well involved here, along with Maeve and Gino. Mother Malloy is one sharp cookie. The Deckers are always a pleasant addition and I love Catherine and Brian (wish we saw a bit more of them).
Sarah met a young woman who was writing an article about patent medicines. At this time, that didn’t mean they had a patent or were even really medicine. They were more likely to be full of alcohol or heroin or opium. They were popular since they relieved pain but they didn’t really cure anyone. Louisa was writing an expose of sorts about these medicines.
When Louisa turns up dead, her grieving father hires them to find her killer. Is it a purveyor of medicines who killed her? Is it someone at her rooming house or coworkers? Also, the family has all kinds of grudges and fights. Her mother wanted her to marry and not have a job. She and her brother never got along, because Louisa was excellent at school and a favorite of her father.
The fun thing about these stories is we learn a lot about the level of medicine, law enforcement, society classes and living conditions in New York City of this past time. In Murder in Rose Hill, President McKinley has just died and so it’s likely Sarah’s old friend Teddy will now be President. I really appreciate how the author includes themes and details which are accurate to the period. The author’s note is a must read for me.
As usual, the whole team gathers the oddest bits of evidence to get to the truth. There is also a nice background of their personal and family lives.
About Victoria Thompson
Victoria Thompson is the USA Today bestselling author of the Edgar® and Agatha nominated Gaslight Mystery series and the Sue Grafton Memorial Award nominated Counterfeit Lady Series. She was nominated for an Edgar Award from Mystery Writers of America in 2001, and in 2012 she received a Career Achievement Award in Mystery Writing from RT Magazine. Six of her Gaslight Mysteries were nominated for an Agatha Award. She also contributed to the award winning writing textbook MANY GENRES/ONE CRAFT and authored a short story for the anthology, SHERLOCK HOLMES IN AMERICA. In her previous life, Victoria Thompson was the bestselling author of twenty historical romances. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in 2012, where she has been a mentor and lecturer for 20 years.
“I became enchanted by New York City, and Greenwich Village in particular, while one of my daughters attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. After reading many books about the village, and spending many pleasant hours dining, shopping, and just wandering the streets, I was permanently hooked!”
Victoria Thompson is has also written 20 historical romances.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Oddly, I haven’t started this series yet and I love historical mysteries. I like that she highlights various historical things like patent medicine along with the mystery.
Oh Sophia! There’s 27 now but really you must read this series from the beginning. I binged it one year when there were maybe 20. The historical info is awesome.
Those medicines sound awful but I can understand someone killing her since she was nosing around in that especially since they would be highly addictive. So people who were taking them for long periods of time wouldn’t want to be cut off from them.
yes, there are plenty of reasons for her to be killed both career and personal issues.
Picked it up from the library today.
I hope you enjoy it too!
This looks good.
I’ve really enjoyed this series. It’s one that got me started on historical mysteries along with Andrea Penrose.
I would enjoy this series, probably on audio. Great review!
I enjoyed the first 8(?) on audio and then the narrator changed and that didn’t work for me. There may be nothing wrong with the newer narrator but it was a different voice than what I had in my head which was jarring for me.
I read the first few books and then got sidetracked. Maybe someday I’ll catch up! Nice to see the series is still going strong!
I really enjoyed these. I binged them all maybe 2-3 years ago.
I SO love this series! Can’t wait to get started.
I really love it too. I like the historical notes the author does, also. I do prefer ones where Frank and Sarah are involved, rather than if they are barely in the background. Maeve is stellar but I’m not totally understanding Gino. I think he could use more development?
I really enjoyed this one too! The stuff about the patent medicine was terrifying but made sense. I always figured they were kind of like sugar water or something – useless but not harmful.
yes the fact that they were actually harmful also makes sense though. At least in some cases it reduced pain.
” includes themes and details which are accurate to the period.” this is so important to me. I love when fact mixes with the fake.
You would want to be sure to read the author’s note which delineates the fact vs fiction in the story. I always really enjoy it.