Murder on Union Square (A Gaslight Mystery #21)

Author:  Victoria Thompson
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780399586606
Berkley Publishing
336 Pages
$26.00; $12.99 Amazon
May 1, 2016

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Sarah and Frank Malloy are enjoying married life and looking to make their family official by adopting Catherine, the child whom Sarah rescued and has been raising as her daughter.  The process seems fairly straightforward, but at the last minute, the newlyweds discover that Parnell Vaughn, Catherine's legal father, has a claim on the child, and his grasping fianceé is demanding a financial settlement to relinquish parental rights.  Even though exchanging money for a child is illegal, Frank and Sarah's love for Catherine drives them to comply.

When Frank returns with the money and finds Vaughn beaten to death, all evidence points to Frank as the culprit.  A not-quite-famous actor with modest means, Vaughn seems an unlikely candidate for murder, particularly such a violent crime of passion.  But Frank soon uncovers real-life intrigue as dramatic as any that appears on stage.

Sarah and Frank enlist those closest to them to help hunt for Vaughn's killer as Frank's own life - and the future of their family -- hang in the balance.

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Frank Malloy is an ex-policeman who now owns a private detective agency.  He and his wife Sarah, a midwife, are planning to formally adopt a little girl named Catherine.  But they find out from an attorney that in the eyes of the law, Catherine's father is an actor named Parnell Vaughn, even though he's not the biological parent.  He was married to Catherine's mother at the time of her birth, so unfortunately he still has parental rights.

When Frank and Sarah visit Vaughn at the theater, they discover that he is perfectly willing to sign whatever papers need be in order to relinquish his legal hold on her.  He states quite soundly that she is not his child, and he is not in a position to raise one regardless.  But before Frank and Sarah leave, the young woman with Vaughn, Eliza, demands they pay one thousand dollars in order to gain custody.  While exchanging money for a child is illegal, they are still more willing to find out a way to do so in order to keep the girl; and set a date for Vaughn to sign the papers.

However, when Frank arrives at the theater upon the appointed time, he finds Vaughn's body covered in blood.  When he checks for a pulse, he manages to get some blood on himself, and Eliza arrives shortly after and starts screaming that he killed him.  When the police arrive, Frank is arrested and charged with the murder.  Now it's up to he and Sarah, along with friends Maeve and Gino, to clear Frank's name and find the true killer.

While I enjoyed reading this mystery, set in an historical era, I did feel that it was a tad bit slow going at some points.  Although I do understand that there is a lot to do with murders, and you must ask many people questions in order to find out the truth, I did find it odd that there was never a police officer about who was curious.  While I understand the lead detective believed Frank was the murderer, there was never anyone who even thought that the case might just fall apart unless their one witness was infallible (which, of course, we know she wasn't); and that they would question others just to make sure the case would stand.  But it seemed the only people questioning were the 'Malloy clan'.  Not one officer on the force (it seemed) was even considering that Frank just might be telling the truth and not be a murderer.  It doesn't say much about his time on the force if everyone thought he was guilty.  It seemed to me that if he wasn't liked by even one co-worker, how could he be likable by anyone, including his family and friends?  For people who have never read any other books in the series, this might be a huge question mark, in my opinion.

Aside from that, there was quite a bit of detail, and the separate questioning was thorough; I enjoyed the fact that Frank and Sarah work together a team.  Their talk sessions, where everyone gathers 'round and shares information, trying to sort out fact from fiction, was quite fun to read.

While it was enjoyable to read about theater people 'back in the day', I also found it nice to watch the Malloys as they traveled through their investigation.  While the clues were there it took time to decipher them; and while it wasn't a surprise as to who the murder was, it definitely was engaging in the process.

This is the 21st entry into the Gaslight Mysteries, but it can be read as a stand-alone.  There is nothing referencing earlier books so as to be confusing to the reader, aside from incorporating some characters from those novels.  When all is said and done and the killer is revealed, it was a satisfying ending to a very good book.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Union-Square-Gaslight-Mystery/dp/0399586601/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2372991417

More on Victoria Thompson's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/t/victoria-thompson/

The Yellow Room

Author:  Mary Roberts Rinehart
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Paperback; Mass Market Paperback
ISBN #:  9783942637589; 9780821722626
Zebra Publishing
351 Pages
Various Prices
1945

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The corpse - somewhat charred around the edges- had been discovered in the linen closet.  She was wearing a silver fox coat and not much else.  No one had any idea who she was or what she was doing in the Spencer's Main retreat.  Certainly not 24-year-old Carol Spencer, who had only just arrived to open up the house for the summer.

Unfortunately Carol seemed to be the prime suspect, judging from the questions the police were asking.  But Carol had one advantage over the police: she knew that she hadn't done it.  Which left her that much closer to tracking down the true killer...and that much closer to danger.

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Carol Spencer's brother is temporarily home from World War II, being decorated in Washington, and will shortly be home for a brief respite before his wedding.  Carol's mother is insisting they open the family summer home in Maine, and after dutifully depositing her mother with her sister Elinor, she travels there.

Carol's fiancé was reported missing a year ago, and all - except his father - presumed him dead in the war.  Unfortunately, his father lives nearby, and she knows once she's home she'll have to listen to him go on about how Don will come back with them soon.

But when Carol arrives, accompanied by a trio of servants, all is not going to be well.  For one of the girls has gone up to the linen closet and come back hysterical.  It seems that there's the body of a young woman in the closet - or at least what is left of her.  There's been an attempt at burning her body, all her belongings are missing, and no one seems to know who she is.

But more than the police are interested in finding out about the dead woman: an injured solider named Major Dane is recuperating at another summer home, and he's more than intrigued by the situation.  But there's more than meets the eye:  an injured servant is in the hospital and being kept away by the police; Elinor arrives at Carol's request but is not only nervous, it's apparent she doesn't want to be there; and even Carol's brother Gregory arrives, to the surprise of everyone, including Major Dane.

But are any of the Spencers guilty, and if not who is?  Who was the young woman?  What connection does she have to the family?  And who is Major Dane and why is he so interested in this case?  These questions are answered, and more..

Mary Roberts Rinehart is a highly-respected mystery writer long gone but her books are still good.  However, they are yet a product of their time.  Every character - save the servants - smoke, and are constantly offering cigarettes to each other.  There is a war going on, and not only is food rationed, but gasoline and even camera film.  For those that enjoy historical fiction, Ms. Rinehart was quite prolific and her books are decent.

I did feel, unfortunately, that the beginning of the book started rather slow, and it was at first difficult to keep reading the book.  The action, as it were, didn't really become interesting until after the appearance of Gregory, which occurs at some point a little farther than midway into it.  Once his character appears, then questions are being answered quite quickly.

There are more than enough twists and turns throughout and quite a few surprises that I didn't see coming.  When the story ends it all comes together quite nicely, and one needs to remember that it is writers like Miss Rinehart who brought us some of the first mysteries. While these books aren't always as highly detailed as those today, one must remember that back then there were no such things as DNA testing, computers, etc., to help with the investigation.  It all had to be done slowly, and a lot of it by telephone or traveling to different areas, which made things slow going.  All in all, I will probably read another of this author's books.

https://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Room-Mary-Roberts-Rinehart/dp/082172262X/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2343814360

More on Mary Robert Rinehart's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/r/mary-roberts-rinehart/

Murder on Location (A Charlotte Brody Mystery #3)

Author:  Cathy Pegau
Genre:  Mystery

Trade Paperback; Ebook
ISBN #: 9781496700582
Kensington Publishing
288 Pages
$15.00; $9.99 Amazon
February 28, 2017

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In the Alaska Territory, suffragette Charlotte Brody is a newspaper reporter in the frontier town of Cordova.  She's a woman ahead of her time living on the rugged edge of civilization - but right now the most dangerous element she faces may come from sunny California...

An expedition has arrived in the frigid wilderness to shoot North to Fortune - an epic motion picture featuring authentic footage of majestic peaks, vast glaciers, homesteaders, and Alaska Natives.  but the film's fortunes begin to go south as a local Native group grows angry at how they're portrayed in the movie, fights break out, and cast and crew are beset by accidents and assaults.  Finally, production is halted when the inebriated director falls into a crevasse - and dies of exposure.

Soon Michael Brody - the town coroner and Charlotte's brother - starts to suspect that Mother Nature was not responsible for Stanley Welsh's death.  Charlotte, who's been writing about all the Hollywood glamour, is suddenly covering a cold-blooded crime story - and as springtime storms keep the suspects snowed in, she has to make sure the truth doesn't get buried...

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Charlotte Brody is a newswoman in 1920's Alaskan Territory.  It seems a movie crew is there to film, but they've caused the ire of the Alaskan (territory at that time) natives, who feel they're being portrayed in an unflattering light.  When she arrives at the train station to greet them, there is a group of Native protesters also, who demand that certain scenes in the film be changed to show them positively, not as the villains of the piece.

When Charlotte is invited to attend the filming, she brings along her ward Becca who is to be an extra in the movie.  But Becca's enthusiasm doesn't last long when the next morning the film's director Stanley Welsh is found dead in a crevasse - and Charlotte informs everyone they have to stay put while both the coroner, her brother Michael and law enforcement - in the form of Deputy James Eddington - arrive to examine the scene.

Once it is discovered that Stanley was indeed murdered, then the task of finding the killer becomes paramount.  They know it had to be someone in the remote camp, but since Stanley rubbed many people the wrong way - including his daughter, Cicely - finding the person responsible won't be easy.  Especially since the producer wants the movie stopped, but  Cicely, the new director, wants to proceed along with the rest of the crew.  And Charlotte finds out that the movie has had its share of bad luck already, long before a death was added into the equation.
 
Charlotte, in her role as a reporter, is just the person to help with the investigation, since she can ask questions and the film might be more willing to talk to her, being a journalist and not an officer of the law.  She's promised to share anything she learns with James, who is also her beau.  But when Charlotte starts digging just a little too deep, and the accidents that have been plaguing the cast of the movie grow, the next one might just be one accident too many...

While I felt the book started out a little slow, things began to pick up once the murder was committed.  I felt at that point the book began to get more interesting; and while I thought there were a couple of scenes that felt odd (like people actually encouraging her to have sex) it didn't distract from my enjoyment of the book.

When we come to the end and the killer is revealed, it makes one realize that self-preservation is indeed a strong motive for some; and those that are the most heroic don't always appear to be so in the beginning.  An enjoyable read that is recommended to all.

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Location-Charlotte-Brody-Mystery/dp/1496700589/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1941922776

More on Cathy Pegau's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/p/cathy-pegau/