Description (from cover): “Former policeman Frank Malloy is frustrated when a woman requests his private detective services to implicate her wealthy husband in adultery, the only legal grounds for divorce in New York state. Although Mrs. Bing seems genuinely distressed about her marriage and desperate to end it, she refuses to tell Frank the reason she absolutely must divorce her husband and admits she has no legal grounds. Frank explains he won’t manufacture evidence for her and sends her on her way.
The following week, Frank and Sarah happen to be attending the first ever auto show in Madison Square Garden when they meet the woman’s husband, Alfred Bing, who has invested in a company that produces one of the electric motorcars on display. A few days later, the newspapers report that millionaire Alvin Bing has been found dead, pinned beneath one of the wheels of his very own motorcar. But who was driving it? The obvious suspect is Mrs. Bing, but Frank and Sarah find that nothing is as it seems in their puzzling, dangerous search for truth.”
My Thoughts:
Just by taking a look at my blog, you can tell that I have long enjoyed reading this series. I remember when I first started reading historical mysteries and that this series was highly recommended to me. I have followed this series and the characters for many years now, so when a new installment is released, it is like catching up with old friends. This book was no different. We see the world changing in this book with automobiles becoming more popular and replacing the horse drawn carriage and more and more people buying them for their convenience. Frank Malloy has long owned a gas-powered automobile, but he is always curious about how the technology is changing and how advancements are being made. When a woman comes to see him at the detective agency about providing evidence of adultery so she can divorce her husband, Frank sticks to his principles and turns the case down. She leaves upset that Frank won’t help her and he thinks that is the end of the matter. Little does he know that he is soon to be embroiled in a murder mystery involving the same woman and her husband that she wanted to divorce.
Frank and Sarah attend the first auto show in Madison Square Garden and end up meeting the woman’s husband, Mr. Bing. He is an investor in the electric powered automobile and is very eager to show off his investments to customers at the fair. Later that evening, he is ran over by his own automobile and killed at the auto show. Mrs. Bing approaches Frank again and now asks him to help her solve the mystery of her husband’s murder. Frank and Sarah eagerly accept the case and start their investigation. Mr. Bing’s past comes back to haunt him and stirs up more trouble for Frank and Sarah. Apparently, Mr. Bing had a lot of secrets and a lot of people wanted him dead. It is up to Frank and Sarah, along with the help of Gino and Maeve, to find the murderer before someone else ends up hurt or worse, murdered.
This was another smashing read by Victoria Thompson. I simply cannot get enough of Frank and Sarah and love their stories and mysteries. Thompson has a way with making a well-established series seem fresh and never boring. I can never put her books down and always recommend this series for historical mystery lovers as a must-read series. I feel that I am never disappointed with her books and highly anticipate the next release in the series. Another well researched book by a historical mystery master. You will not be disappointed with this book or any of the others in this series.
Overall Rating: 5 stars
Author: Victoria Thompson
Series: Gaslight Mystery #25
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: May 3, 2022
Pages: 348
Genre: Historical Mystery
Get It: Amazon
Disclaimer: This book was given to me by the publisher, through NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review. I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
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