This is the first in Victoria Thompson's "Gaslight" mystery series set in early 1900's New York. I really was prepared to not like this book as this time period is not my favorite for historical mysteries (I prefer earlier middle ages/medieval times), but I found myself very pleasantly surprised. Sarah Brandt is a widow and midwife who gave up a life of luxury to continue practicing after her physician husband Thomas was brutally killed. She works for pittance--and sometimes not even that--among the city's poor, must to the dismay of her well-born family who are direct Mayflower descendents. In this first book, the young sister of an old school friend of Sarah's is found murdered in a boardinghouse where Sarah has gone to treat the owner of the house. The first mystery--what would a young woman from a wealthy family be doing in a squalid boardinghouse--is part of the mystery of who killed her. Very well done book with a few surprises that made it all the more interesting. An excellent start to a promising series.

This well-written mystery is set in turn-of-the-century New York City and introduces series protagonists --midwife Sarah Brandt and NYPD Police Detective Frank Malloy. While following up on a newly-delivered mother and child, midwife Sarah Brandt finds herself dragged into investigationg the murder of a young girl who was a roomer in theboarding house run by the new mother. But when Sarah discovers that the murdered girl is an old friend of her family, she wants to find the murderer and bring him to justice. This is the first story in this series, and I enjoyed it very much. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series!

This was a wonderful book! I haven't read much historical fiction, but Thompson portrays a late 19th century New York in all of it's gritty and aristoratic splendor. Sarah Brandt, an independent woman who makes her living as a midwife, finds herself helping a tough New York detective solve a murder involving a young heiress.

The story moves along as a good pace, and the descriptions of the city, both good and bad, and the social classes, the who, what and why of the aristocracy is splendid, and I learned a lot about the customs of the time.

A wonderful mystery and interesting characters have made me want to read more of Victoria Thompson.

This one was a great read. Great historical setting turn of the 20th century New York City and the plight of women at that time. You won't be disappointed with this book.

This is the first book in the series. This was my first book from this author looking forward to the next one. A must read if you like historical mystery.

Ooh, I'm hooked on this series now! Historical mysteries are my favorite and there's something about turn-of-the-century New York that alwasys draws me in. The characters are engaging, the plot twisty, and the atmosphere evocative. . . everything I'm looking for in a weekend read.

I really enjoyed this book. It is the first in the series and I look forward to reading the others. I love all the historical information interwoven in the storyline. Really pulls you back into time.

I really enjoyed this book. The author gives us a feel for life in New York City around the turn of the century. Good mystery. I thought I had it figured out, but the ending was a surprise.

Well written mystery. The author did an excellent job of capturing the social aspect of the times. She made you want to know more about the characters, but not at the expense of moving the story along. I'll definitely read more of this series.

What a great story and such a quick read! I zipped through this book in a couple days!

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This is the first book in Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mysteries Series. We are introduced to midwife Sarah Brandt and find out how she comes to be involved with investigating murders with Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy. This book gives the reader some insight into the backstories of Frank and Sarah, which make appearances in future books in the series and help revel their motives as characters. This is a great start to the series and really throws the reader into turn-of-the-century NYC.

The mystery in this book revolves around a young woman who was murdered in a boarding house where Sarah recently delivered a baby to the owner. Sarah felt the girl looked familiar when she briefly saw her, then realizes that this young girl is the youngest daughter of a prosperous family she knew growing up. Sarah must reconcile the three year separation she had with her wealthy parents in order to help Frank solve the case. Victoria Thompson gives the reader enough clues throughout the story to help you piece it together as you go, though does leave one shocking piece of evidence until nearly the very end! Read it, you won't be disappointed!

Book is new, never read. Was a gift and I already had a copy.

Good start to series.

For those who like turn of the century mysteries. Series gets better with each new book.

This was a very good book in the style of Anne Perry but set in turn-of-the-century New York instead of England. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

If you like Historical Fiction, this is a good book for a quickie read. Hunker down on an cold day with a pot of tea and some biscuits and you'll come out of it with a cute satifying read.

The first of the series featuring midwife Sarah Brandt and Sgt. Malloy. If you read this one, you'll want to read all the ones that have followed, both for the great mysteries and for the developing relationship between these characters.

Aside from some grammatical errors ("it's" for "its" twice in one sentence!), and virtually no information about Sarah's midwifery career, which was my interest in the book to begin with, I did enjoy Murder on Astor Place. Sarah, a widowed midwife in New York City around 1900, and Malloy, a police detective trying to do right by his son, band together to solve a scandalous murder case that the family of the murdered girl would rather be hushed up. I'm eager to read the series' remaining books. First in a series; sequels include Murder on St. Mark's Place, Murder on Gramercy Park, Murder on Washington Square, Murder on Mulberry Bend, Murder on Marble Row, and Murder on Lenox Hill.

1st in the Gaslight mystery series.

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