Murder on Lexington Avenue

by Victoria Thompson Narrated by Suzanne Toren

Overview

In this 12th Gaslight Mystery by national bestselling author Victoria Thompson, philosophical conflicts within the deaf community lead to murder most foul. After an influential supporter of deaf education is found dead, NYPD Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy quickly determines the slain man-an advocate of eugenics-was bludgeoned with a trophy. But when Malloy reaches an impasse, he asks his friend Sarah Brandt to help him ferret out the culprit.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

In Thompson’s fine 12th mystery set in turn-of-the-20th-century New York City (after 2009’s Murder on Waverly Place), Det. Sgt. Frank Malloy investigates the murder of Nehemiah Wooten, who was bludgeoned with a loving cup Wooten won for sculling at Harvard more than 30 years earlier. A follower of Alexander Graham Bell’s views on eugenics, Wooten was opposed to two deaf people getting married on the grounds that such unions would produce only deaf offspring, an attitude that earned him an enemy within his own home. Wooten’s attractive 16-year-old daughter, Electra, who could not hear, was hoping to marry a deaf teacher. When Malloy visits Wooten’s pregnant widow and her water breaks, he calls in midwife Sarah Brandt. Thanks to her access to the victim’s household, Sarah proves invaluable in helping him uncover the killer. While the psychology of the crime is less complicated than some might prefer, Thompson does a solid job bringing the past to life. (June)

Kirkus Reviews

More murder among the upper classes in turn-of-the-century New York. When businessman Nehemiah Wooten is found in his office, his head smashed in, his widow doesn't seem greatly upset by the death. But when she goes into labor, it's a chance for Detective Frank Malloy to get his midwife friend Sarah Brandt into the house. Sarah makes herself invaluable to the household and manages to pick up information Malloy could never have uncovered. She learns that nobody knew Valora Wooten was pregnant, perhaps because the child is not her husband's but that of his partner's son. Wooten's firm views on eugenics drove him from his wife's bed after the birth of their deaf daughter Electra, who has been taught to lip read but has secretly been taking lessons in American Sign Language from a teacher from a rival school with whom she has fallen in love. Mrs. Wooten brazens it out, insisting the child is her husband's. Electra is glad her father is dead since he stood in the way of her romance. And her brother Leander's indifference is deepened only slightly when he's murdered on a visit to the Bowery. Malloy is surprised to find a bitter rivalry between lip-reading and ASL, which his own deaf son is learning. Wooten was so widely disliked, however, that his views on the deaf provide just one more motive for murder. Thompson (Murder on Waverly Place, 2009, etc.) illuminates a battle in the deaf community that continues even today.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169505153
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	12/17/2010
Series:	Gaslight Mystery Series , #12
Edition description:	Unabridged

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