I really liked the first half of the book. The plot was exciting and, uh, a little kinky. The dialogue about Mrs. Hawkes made me giggle. The second half was a bit slow and drawn-out. ( )

Sink into the wicked world of the theater in New York. This Sarah Brandt mystery takes us to the original heart of the theater district in New York, where Sarah’s husband finds a dead actor who was legal guardian to the child the couple wants to adopt. The familiar cast of characters represent a delightful result of the melting pot that was America at the time. The Malloys are pretty well off now and Sarah is opening a clinic, but their friends and associates are a realistic mixture of ethnicities, when they are thrown into the world of the theater at the time. I enjoy reading (and writing) about the unexpected things you find out about the past, and here we get the “Syndicate” which was a group that took over the bookings for plays on the road. An aging actress is resisting the group and it is her leading man who is killed.

I’m looking forward to a couple of bookstore appearances with Victoria Thompson in Chicago next week, and I think we share an interest in surprising women like Sarah Brandt who resisted the upper class world of Edith Wharton and Henry James to live lives that opened doors for those of us who came later. Also, this particular time period was a time of great changes in society, including the melting pot, that formed the world we grew up in. I like the way Sarah a widow from a wealthy background and Malloy a detective from a poor background with his deaf son manage to blend together to form a very American family.
( )

Victoria Thompson presents the world is a stage in Murder on Union Square. Frank and Sarah Mallory plan to legally adopt Catherine, the illegitimate daughter of Mr. Wilbanks and his mistress, Emma Hardy. Unfortunately, since Emma was married to Parnell Vaughn at Catherine’s birth, Parnell must give his consent for the adoption. Before Parnell can sign the paper, he is brutally murdered, and Frank discovers the body and is arrested as the murder. Thompson parades into the theatre of 1890’s and the life of the cast. Each actor or actress has a fragile personality based on vanity and distrust. Victoria Thompson shows the callousness of the police department that only investigate the death if the case benefits the department, meaning that the death of a poor individual will not be investigated. The main issue in this story rests with the Syndicate, a group that controls the theatre by arranging tours, setting salaries, and controlling the plays and actors. Many actors spurned the Syndicate stating that individual style suffered. An amazing look at the theatre. ( )

This was my first Gaslight Mystery and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a historical cozy that centers around the Union Square area of NYC. This is the earlier Broadway so we get behind the scenes in a theater and learn quite a bit about actors, actresses and how the theater world works. Very interesting! The characters are hilarious and I love the interaction between the main characters and sidekicks. Looking forward to reading more of this series in the future.

I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
( )

This is a long running series and I have read every book to this point. I love the series but honestly am kinda over it. When I finished this book I didn't think I would pick up another until I read the author's note. Now, I've decided I will do one more book in the series but the last few have just kinda been meh for me.

From the author's note it seems as if this wasn't a planned book but rather one written to fill in a plot hole that was caught by a reader and relayed to the author. It is because of this fact that I will give the series one more chance.

I read this series for the characters more than the mysteries. The mystery plots I only find so-so. But, I love the characters. However, pretty much all the character arcs are closed at this point and the few that are open are ones I don't really care much about.

I loved the romance between Frank and Sarah but the new romantic plot isn't working for me with the younger sleuths. They kept trying to make each other jealous in this book and just kinda were behaving badly. I didn't like that at all. I am not invested in their romance like I was in Frank and Sarah's.

Also, this book spent sooooo much time going over and over information we already had. They would gather together and discuss the clues but there weren't that many clues so it slowed the books pacing down.

I was fine with how the mystery ended. There were only a few suspects and while I wasn't sure who the killer was I was fine with how the book ended.

I really love this series but it is losing steam for me. Unless something awesome happens in the next book I think this will be the last book I read in this series. There aren't many character arcs left that I could really care about. I really love this series and have spent hours and hours in this world with these characters. It has been an amazing journey. But, I really feel like if nothing interesting happens in the next book that it is time for me to hop off this series train though it breaks my heart to say so. ( )