Book Review: Murder on Trinity Place by Victoria Thompson (Gaslight Mysteries #22)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Characters we love in a strong mystery

Cons: No cons for me

The Bottom Line:

A New Year’s murder

Case filled with plenty of twists

Characters we love

Starting the New Year (or is that Century?) with Murder

When I think about the lead up to the year 2000, I remember the worry that our computers would all crash.  But I do also remember some discussions about whether we were starting the new century that year or not.  That came back to me as I sat down to read Murder on Trinity Place.

You see, this book opens in the final week of 1899, and Sarah and Frank Malloy have been invited to dinner party given by their neighbors the Ellsworths.  Also attending are the Pritchards, Nelson Ellsworths’ new in-laws.  Mr. Pritchard owns a dairy in New York City, and Sarah and Frank have been warned that he likes to ramble on about milk.  However, on this evening, he starts pontificating on 1900 being the turn of the century and how important it is to recognize that fact.

Sarah and Frank see Mr. Pritchard again on New Year’s Eve when they go down to Trinity Church to listen to the concert the church’s bells will put on to ring in the new year.  What they don’t expect is to hear the news the next day that Mr. Pritchard’s body was found on the church’s property.  Frank is hired to find out what happened.  Mr. Pritchard was a stubborn man, but how could that have led to his murder?

I’d noticed that the last couple of books in the series delved into some darker subjects.  I’m happy to say that this book doesn’t go nearly as dark.  Since the client is someone Sarah (and we) have known for years, she also gets a more active role in the investigation, which I enjoyed seeing.  Not to worry, Gino is just as much involved as he’s been recently, too, and he and Maeve still have some fun scenes together.

As the investigation progresses, Sarah and Frank find plenty of red herrings to keep us guessing.  I am often about half a chapter ahead of the characters, but in this case, I didn’t put things together until they did.  And I was surprised by a few of the twists the book took along the way, which I really enjoyed.

It’s always a pleasure to spend time with the large cast of characters in this series, and this book was no exception.  Their relationships are such fun, and I enjoyed seeing them interacting.  The new characters fit perfectly into the world.

Over the last few books, Sarah has started a clinic to help unwed mothers.  There’s a sub-plot involving that clinic that also brings in a character we first met a couple of books ago.  I enjoyed seeing him again, although his appearance does include mild spoilers for some of what happened in Murder in the Bowery.  Then again, I’m always going to prompt you to read any series in order, even one as long as this one.

Murder on Trinity Place is a strong entry in the long running series and proves why the series is still so popular.  If you are a fan who hasn’t read this entry yet, you are in for a treat.

Enjoy the rest of the Gaslight Mysteries.