Murder on Astor Place: A Gaslight Mystery

The endless detail gives this book a good sense of historical accuracy. The sights and smells are well described and definitely give a good picture of the setting. The plot however, was a bit slow paced and it took me a bit of time get into this book and be interested enough to finish. The main character, Sarah is very well done though. I like her independence and how she broke away from her high society obligations. It’s admirable especially for a woman during this time period. She’s able to make a name of herself and become self sufficient. Besides her independence she also had a bit of a temper, which makes a fun read but also gave her a bit of spark of life to her character (which was needed, because the plot remained flat for a while.) If it were not for Sarah, I’d probably would have set the book down and moved onto something else. Frank on the other hand, I found hard to like. Not because he was mean or bad (well he was rather stubborn and pig headed, and was a bit rude to Sarah at times) but I didn’t find him very interesting to begin with. His personality was pretty boring and the potential chemistry he has going with Sarah, well I don’t feel that it’s really there. He improves a little towards the end of the book but it wasn’t enough to change my mind about him. The plot, although slow, had few interesting hooks with it. What really got my attention was the last third of the book because all of a sudden you’re blinded with a very shocking (and might I add really skin crawling) revelation So, in some part, the slow pace of the plot was forgivable, because the ending really did make up for it. Those who have a taste for historical mysteries might be able to like this one. The book isn’t really that long, it’s the pace that makes it long. I say stick with it, it’s worth the read - if only to see Sarah argue with Frank.

This is a well written, well researched mystery with interesting characters. I did enjoy it, but the subject matter is very disturbing. It is for this reason I rated it a 3, albeit indecisively.

I loved the twists and turns this book had. The friendships made and how easily people are not always what they seem. Its not to often a book captures the real essence of what humans are like. I couldn't stop reading it.