Murder on Fifth Avenue

A Gaslight Mystery, Book 14

By: Victoria Thompson

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Victoria Thompson is the Edgar Award-nominated author of the Gaslight Mysteries and numerous historical romance novels. Set in 19th-century New York, Murder on Fifth Avenue follows midwife Sarah Brandt and Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy as they investigate the murder of a Knickerbocker club member.

©2012 Victoria Thompson (P)2012 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

“Thompson vividly recreates the gaslit world of old New York.” ( Publishers Weekly)

Ahhhhhhh

I love this series. I used to read traditional books and lost contact with the series when audiobooks started to dominate my life. I'm glad I could pickup again due to Audible's recent big sale. This story was just what I needed. I even remembered the characters.

Do we get to know?

I’ve read the book after this and I still don’t know what Decker wanted to tell Malloy. Did I miss it? 🤔

Good story, but narration grates

This is one of the best stories in the series about midwife Sarah Brandt and her friend Detective Sgt Frank Malloy. For a while it seemed as though the series had been in a slump, and all the stories and narrations were under par. But lately, I think the plots are getting very interesting again, though I fear I can't say the same for the narration.

In this book, Frank Malloy has been called in to investigate a murder at the prestigious Knickerbocker Club--a friend of Sarah Brandt's father has been murdered, and he wants Frank, personally, to look into it. This book has Sarah's parents much more involved than previously, and I think that's partly what makes this better. Her mother even helps with the investigation.But the story itself is good as well. Lots of people who have ample motive to kill the victim, and it kept me guessing all along about who could have done it.

One thing I really like about Victoria Thompson is that she weaves bits of turn of the 20th century history into her stories and I always like that. Attitudes about things alter over time, and this story turns on societal ideas, the restrictions of women, and even early ideas about policing. About the narration--Suzanne Toren reads the descriptive parts very nicely, and does some voices quite well. Yet, there are several voices that leave me feeling like fingernails on a chalkboard. She doesn't do male voices at all well. So it is sort of uneven. I like the series well enough to listen anyway.

Great story, terrible narration

I’ve read the previous books in this series on Kindle and loved them all, but I decided to try this one in Audible. Very disappointing. The story itself is, as usual, a great snapshot of New York life in the early 1900s, with all its class distinctions, attitudes toward women, poverty and social mores. The Gaslight series always makes me realize how much easier our lives are with modern transportation and, certainly, cell phones. This story focuses more on Detective Malloy. He is a man trying to do his job within a corrupt system without support from his superiors, and his investigations involving the elite must always be treaded upon lightly, making things more difficult than they have to be. Wouldn’t he have loved to have a CSI team to call on!

While the story is definitely one of Thompson’s best - it does keep the reader guessing - I could not give it five stars because of the very annoying narrator. As stated in other reviews, she did the straight narration well - and a few of the female voices -but the male voices were horrid. She particularly did not do well on accents - the Italian accents in particular made me cringe, they sounded like Neanderthals. Her interpretation of the mistress was laughable. She sounds like she just inhaled a helium balloon. Given that this story dwells more with Malloy than some of Thompson’s other books, I think perhaps a male/female narration team would have worked much better.

If the rest of this series on Audible is done by this narrator, I’ll stick with Kindle.

Great story!

I have been reading every book in order from The Gaslight Mystery Series. In the beginning I was captivated, but after ready Murder in Chinatown I was wanting more. I was also disappointed in the change of narrator. But this book has absolutely revived the characters in this wonderful series and captured my attention yet again. What a great story Victoria Thompson!! Thank you

New York at the Turn of the Century

Very entertaining mystery depicting life in New York among the rich and famous. The mystery of the "killer" did not reveal itself too early to keep the book entertaining until the end.

Keeps you thinking!

I love all the gaslight mysteries I listen and read so far, this one was amazing and keeps me wondering who the killer was - Sarah and frank mystery solving skills are exciting - I love their relationship and can't wait for them to act on their feelings.

Great instalment

Loved it! A terrific chapter in the adventures of Sarah Brandt.

As always, I looked forward to more developments between her and Frank with each book, and again I was disappointed that this episode didn’t move their romantic relationship along a little more, but I do like the direction her parents are going in.

Entertaining

I loved this story. Sarah and Frank join forces when Sarah's father requests Frank to investigate the apparent murder of one of Mr. Decker's friends. Both Sarah and Frank agree that something is not quite right in the household after their first visit there. The procedural part of investigation was well done and I enjoyed Sarah and Frank's discussions. The addition of Sarah's mother into the investigative team was brilliant. She was a hoot. This seemed like a pivotal book in the series. If you like your mysteries filled with intriguing characters get this book.

Excellent

This was so good. Hard to figure out all the players. Also the author brings so many twist and turns. Narration perfect