I like this late 19th/early 20th century series by Victoria Thompson starring midwife Sarah Malloy (nee Brandt) and her private detective husband Frank. The characters have continued developing at the rate of approximately one book per year since 1999 beginning with the initial meeting of the young widow and the rare, incorruptible Sergeant Frank Malloy. Thompson does an excellent job with historical detail — inserting each story in pieces of history with deftly integrated details that do not sound like a regurgitation of Wikipedia articles.
In this installment, Louise, a young woman determined to follow in muckraker Ida Tarbell’s footsteps, is digging up information to bring down the patent medicine industry which she is sure harms more people than it could possibly help. (She is clearly correct given that most potions are mixtures of alcohol, heroin, and cocaine!) When Louisa is found dead shortly after interviewing Sarah, her father comes to the Malloys asking for help in finding her killer. The story brings in the new technology of the time (electric motors! the telephone!) along with the mechanics of the police force, the (widely varying) attitudes towards women who choose education and working lives over lives as wives and mothers, and of course, the ubiquitousness and impact of patent medicines. Did you know that the word “flashlight” comes from the fact that the originals gave out only short bursts of light because batteries were weak and bulbs primitive? Pretty fascinating stuff!
The writing is fairly simple, the characters are likable, though not terribly introspective, I never do figure out whodunnit in advance, and the history illuminates the every day details of life in a completely foreign time period.
Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on April 23rd, 2024.
Books to look forward to ... 