Murder on Waverly Place

A Gaslight Mystery

By: Victoria Thompson

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

In Victoria Thompson's Murder on Waverly Place, midwife-sleuth Sarah Brandt is surprised by her mother's desire to attend séances in an undesirable section of New York City. During one dark session, death strikes a participant while all are holding hands around the table. Now it's up to Sarah - and her detective sergeant friend - to deliver her mom from scandal and ferret out the murderer.

©2009 Victoria Thompson (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Strong characters, clever plotting, and the hint of the supernatural that comes with a story centered around spiritualism make this page-turner a must for both fans and readers new to the series." ( Booklist)

Good Series

I started to like this series by the end of the first book—but it took the plot twists to convince me to keep listening because I wasn’t sure I liked how the narrator made every character sound mean spirited. But the storyline carried me through and when Suzanne Torren gave the women a more feminine voice while keeping them thoroughly engaged, very intelligent, and supremely cunning, I became hooked! I will certainly be sad when the series ends. This segment wasn’t quite as thrilling as its predecessors but it was well done and, again, I was sad when it ended!

Bottle Episode

I read Book 11 & 12 back to back and while I enjoyed the stories and continue to delight in the series, these 2 installments felt like “bottle episodes” and disappointed me because there was no forward momentum in the Frank and Sarah thread. I am looking forward to that aspect piking up.

Wonderful!

Author is amazing. Love the main characters and the secondary ones too. Very well written even if I did guess the murderer! Highly recommended.

Still not a fan of the narrator

Still not a fan of the narrator. Her voice does not do well with the different characters.

A great historical mystery

Mrs. Decker has a lot of pain and guilt over the death of her oldest daughter. A friend tells her about a woman who talks to the dead. The spiritualist can help her apologize to Maggie. Sarah’s first instinct is to warn her mother that this is probably a scam, but she understands her mother’s pain. Begrudgingly, Sarah agrees to attend the séance too. Afterwards, Sarah tries to convince her mother that the people are phony and after her money. Elizabeth Decker doesn’t heed her daughter’s advice and tries to contact her daughter again. Instead of talking to the dead, there is a murder sending the host to join the ghosts in the next life. Sarah needs Frank’s help to protect her mother from a scandal.

I enjoyed this story and the series. The primary focus is the case and Mrs. Decker. There is very little advancing Frank and Sarah’s relationship. Elizabeth’s pain is palpable in parts of the story. She shares the many ways she failed Maggie before her death. Her, if only, remembrances reveal a lot about her heart and love for her children.

It is fun to see how Frank and Sarah are gradually bringing Maeve into their investigations. Her life before Sarah is a little shady. She worked with her grifter grandfather learning skills that Frank can use to reveal the killer. Maeve isn’t afraid. She is symbolic of the changes that women are gradually experiencing through young women’s determination.

Murder on Waverly Place is a fast-paced, fun addition to Victory Thompson’s Gaslight Mystery series. She remains true to the times while sharing inventions (flashlight) and customs of the era. I am so hooked on this series; I can’t get enough. A must read!

I enjoy listening to Suzanne Toren narrate this series. She does an excellent job bringing me into the story.

Fun

When Sarah’s mother wants to go to a seance , the adventure begins.

Twist and turns galore and a murder hard to figure out

Not Great

The story could have been so much better but it was bogged down by too much sitting and talking. The narriator also didn't help. She spoke very fast at odd times, had a cliche Italian accent and child's voice and for some reason, one of the older characters talked with a high-pitched trill. Not cerebrial, not exciting, not well-narriated, not worth it.