Murder on Pleasant Avenue

February 17, 2020
In Edgar finalist Thompson’s cleverly plotted 23rd whodunit set in early 20th-century New York City (after 2019’s Murder on Trinity Place), PI Frank Malloy and his partner, Gino Donatelli, are approached by Donatelli’s sister-in-law, Teo, who’s distraught over the kidnapping of Jane Harding. Miss Harding, who worked at the Daughters of Hope Mission, an East Harlem settlement house with which Malloy’s wife was once involved, disappeared after being stopped by an unidentified man on the street. Teo fears that the Black Hand, a notorious criminal organization, has abducted Miss Harding for ransom. The gang recently kidnapped the wife of the employer of Teo’s husband, only releasing her after a month in captivity when the extortionate payment was raised. The efforts to rescue Miss Harding lead to a murder under circumstances that implicate Donatelli, forcing his friends to solve the crime to absolve him. Thompson makes effective use of real-life figures, such as Joseph Petrosino, one of the NYPD’s first Italian officers. Fans of husband-and-wife sleuthing partners such as Thomas and Charlotte Pitt will be pleased. Agent: Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary.

Narrator Suzanne Toren's star-quality performance makes the 23rd episode in Victoria Thompson's Edgar and Agatha Award-nominated Gaslight mysteries delightful listening. When a woman who works at the Daughters of Hope Mission settlement house in East Harlem disappears, P.I. Frank Malloy; his sleuthing partner, Gino Donatelli; and his wife, Sarah, are drawn into the investigation. The feared organized crime group the Black Hand may be involved, since they have been terrorizing the Italian neighborhood, kidnapping people for ransom. When Gino is framed for a murder, the team goes into action to prove his innocence. Toren handles the early-twentieth-century diction perfectly, while descriptions of places, events, and people become almost cinematic. Toren is simply superb delivering this well-loved series. S.J.H. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine