Rating: 
Summary: Easy read, impressive historical mystery
Review: A good read with a familiar feel. I think historical readers have a new series to look forward to.Sarah Brandt is a midwife at the turn-of -the-century. When a young girl boarding at Sara's patients home is murdered Sarah's lack of faith in the NYC Police Department compels her to try and solve the murder herself. Frank Malloy is a tough cop with ambitions to move up. Sarah wonders if he will consider the case worth his time and Frank wonders if she will ever go away. Victoria Thompson's first historical is a hit as far as I'm concerned. The mystery was well done and the historical jargon is clear without being overwhelming. I think it helps the reader sometimes to know what certain historical terms are and Ms Thompson was successful in explaining them without distracting from the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Night light reading
Review: After reading The Alienist (Carr) with my face-to-face reading group, I began looking for similar historical mysteries. I could not believe my luck in finding another mystery set in turn of the century New York City. Add in a pre-feminist heroine and a cranky NYC cop, and you're definitely in business with this reader. Sarah Brandt is a successful midwife making her own way in a middle class neighborhood when a nearby landlady's tenant is found murdered. The murder victim happens to be an old friend of Sarah's family, the young and beautiful Alicia VanDamm. Sarah, along with the reluctant help of detective Frank Malloy, investigates the murder despite the VanDamm family's best attempts to foil the process. All in all, I thought this was a decent read enjoyable for all cozy mystery fans. However, this was not nearly as suspenseful as The Alienist, so I give it a good three stars.
Rating:
Summary: A good start to a new series...
Review: After reading The Alienist (Carr) with my face-to-face reading group, I began looking for similar historical mysteries. I could not believe my luck in finding another mystery set in turn of the century New York City. Add in a pre-feminist heroine and a cranky NYC cop, and you're definitely in business with this reader. Sarah Brandt is a successful midwife making her own way in a middle class neighborhood when a nearby landlady's tenant is found murdered. The murder victim happens to be an old friend of Sarah's family, the young and beautiful Alicia VanDamm. Sarah, along with the reluctant help of detective Frank Malloy, investigates the murder despite the VanDamm family's best attempts to foil the process. All in all, I thought this was a decent read enjoyable for all cozy mystery fans. However, this was not nearly as suspenseful as The Alienist, so I give it a good three stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book to satisfy the hunger of mystery!
Review: Anxious for the next book in this series of which I hope there will be many! Thoroughly enjoyed reading this from cover to cover. Very similar to the Anne Perry books.
Rating: 
Summary: First in a new Mystery Series!
Review: Hope you enjoy my first mystery. After writing 20 historical romances, I wanted a change. My agent reminded me that I'd been putting mystery subplots in my romances for years, so the logical choice seemed to be an historical mystery. Please let me know how you like this book. I'm working on the second book in the series, so your comments will help! Also, check out my webpage at http://members.aol.com/VESTinPA/index.html
Rating:
Summary: My favorite kind of mystery!
Review: I admit it -- I love books where the author blends little known facts with her plot, and Victoria Thompson has done exactly that with her first mystery. Not only does she give us an intriguing story, but she also laces it with fascinating details about turn-of-the-century New York City. Colorful characters who come alive, a true-to-life setting and an interesting plot -- what more could a reader ask? The only flaw I found were a number of grammatical errors, notably incorrect homonyms, that the copy editor should have corrected, but those were minor and shouldn't stop anyone from clicking "add this to my shopping cart."
Rating:
Summary: A Pleasant Surprise
Review: I am a Miriam Grace Monfredo fan and didn't think I'd ever find anyone whose historical mystery would come close to Monfredo's. While I didn't find this book to be as historically detailed as Monfredo's, I did find the plot a bit more compelling, and I enjoyed the two protagonists and the slow unveiling of their backgrounds and personalities. The story line never seemed to stall; I stayed with the plot throughout and never found my mind wandering. My only gripe would be the last 20 pages or so. I was surprised that the two detectives didn't leap to the same conclusions that I already had; I thought the details of the crime were quite clear much earlier than they did. As well, as soon as the culprits shifted to their final location, I knew exactly what was going to happen next and thought the story became too melodramatic, too 19th-century novel-ish. I look forward to reading Thompson's next book, which I've already purchased.
Rating:
Summary: For the first mystery, a very good job.
Review: I enjoy period mysteries, usually because they have cleaner writing, if not always cleaner plots. Ms. thompson does a more than adequate job of writing, and yes she is developing her period mystery around two character which seem somewhat familiar...but I didn't think of the Anne Perry novels. We seem to be getting quite a few of these types of mysteries which are set in the late 1800's in large cities; one author write about my hometown, Pittsburgh, another writes about San Francisco. The difference lies in the character development and the quality of writing of the author. I think I will wait and see how this particular author decides to be different before I cast judgement whether to continue to read her. I enjoyed this one and think others who like period mysteries will too. Karen L. Sadler Science Education, University of Pittsburgh, klsst23@pitt.edu
Rating: 
Summary: Unecessarily sordid
Review: I must admit I'm picky, but I don't read mysteries for the gory details. This had some interesting characters but contained too much detail on emotional and physical cruelty. It could have been far more subtle and much more compelling. I also guessed most of the solution halfway through. If the author had focused more on exploring the emotional interplay it would have been more sophisticated and enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Good reading
Review: I picked up this book in the hopes of finding a new historical mystery series along the lines of the John Fielding series by Bruce Alexander. I could not have been more off the mark. I can't begin to explain how BORING this book is. I continued to read it hoping that the action would pick up. Don't waste your time on this one. Pick up 'Blind Justice' by Bruce Alexander.
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