“Murder on Marble Row”   by  Victoria Thompson

Review #158

A Gaslight Mystery

At the request of Teddy Roosevelt, one of the city's three police commissioners, Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy pursues a bomber whose infernal device has killed wealthy and influential industrialist, Gregory Van Dyke.    Owing to the method used, suspicion falls immediately on the "anarchists", who recently enlisted the victim's disinherited son.

When Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy arrives at Van Dyke's home to investigate, he finds Sarah Brandt, a widowed midwife from an upper-class family, already there. The two have worked together on other cases, but Malloy swore that he would never see her again because he knows that the rigid social hierarchy prevents the expression of his true feelings. Sarah, on the other hand, is delighted to be involved in another investigation and puts her social connections to good use.

Other suspects include the victim's much younger second wife, his alienated business partner, and perhaps even the younger son, who likes his step-mom a little too much.  Malloy learns, there are plenty of dark secrets and as many suspects on Fifth Avenue as there are in the tenements.

Another good mystery and some of my favorite characters!