Murder on Bedford Street

February 13, 2023
In Thompson’s strong 26th Gaslight mystery set in turn-of-the-20th-century New York City (after 2022’s Murder on Madison Square), investment banker Hugh Breedlove consults Frank Malloy, an ex-cop who still works as a PI despite coming into a fortune, and his capable wife, Sarah, a midwife, because he’s concerned about his teenage daughter, Ruth. Julia, Ruth’s cousin and Hugh’s niece, has been committed to an asylum by Julia’s husband, Chet Longly, whom she was forced to marry by her parents. Hugh regards Chet as a libertine, and doubts that Julia has any mental illness, but fears that her status as an involuntary patient will cast a pall on Ruth’s reputation. Despite Hugh’s self-serving motives, Frank takes the case, and Sarah joins him in interviewing Julia at the Manhattan State Hospital on Ward’s Island. They emerge convinced of her sanity, and their inquiry into Chet leads them to probe a maid’s suspicious death at the Longly residence. The unexplained disappearance of one of his servants raises the stakes. The loving relationship between Frank and Sarah bolsters the clever plot. This long-running series shows no sign of losing steam. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary.