This series have great characters and I love the family dynamic and crime solving in Victorian New York. I did learn something new ... swill milk. How disturbing was that?

This was a quick read and had some good moments. Sadly, dialogues became too repetitive throughout the book, 2.5 stars. ( )

Murder on Trinity Place exposes the pasteurization of milk and shows the dangers of milk production in New York. Many poor children in New York died in the 1850’s to 1900’s due to bad milk from cows that ate swill, a residual mash from nearby distilleries. Mr. Pritchard, a local dairy owner, pasteurized his milk. Victoria Thompson also shows the crime and lawlessness of New York. The police expect compensation for investigating a crime and are not averse to stealing from a corpse. Mr. Pritchard is murdered but someone with money bribes the police not to investigate his death. The police also turn a blind eye to the stealing, gambling, and crime within the city. Thompson also shows that a reputation for an unmarried lady must be maintained in order to obtain a good marriage. Frank and Sarah adopt Catherine and Sarah arranges a marriage between Jocelyn Vane and Jack Robinson. Mrs. Pritchard and her lover are now free to marry after not being able to marry when young. Almost all the problems are solved, except who will now run the dairy. An enjoyable mystery with little graphic violence. ( )

Murder on Trinity Place by Victoria Thompson is a 2019 Berkley publication.

A perfect blend of history and mystery!

This is yet another long running series that never seems to lose its charm. In this episode, Frank and Sarah’s neighbor, Theda, hires Frank, after her father, a dairy owner, dies on New Year’s Eve.

Initially reluctant to take the case without giving the proper authorities the chance to investigate, it soon becomes clear the police have been paid to look the other way. So, Frank, Sarah, Maeve, and Gino embark on a most puzzling and dangerous mission to discover the truth.

I learn something new every time I read a book in this series. In this case, the story is centered around the dairy business in New York in the 1800s. Evidently, the ‘milk wars’, which I had never heard of, lead to the outlawing of ‘swill milk’- which resulted in the deaths of nearly half of the children of New York City before the age of five.

The victim in this story was a stickler for the rules and may have threatened to expose a dairy that still sold swill milk. But there are plenty of other suspects, all with a valid motive. There are several surprises and twist along the way, as well a little romantic matchmaking on Sarah’s part, which was a terrific idea for the couple in question.

As with any ongoing series, some installments are better than others. This is one of the more durable chapters in the series, which held my attention from beginning to end. If you enjoy historical mysteries, this is one of the best ones out there.

Overall, another terrific whodunit from Victoria Thompson!!

4.5 stars ( )

Synopsis: Sarah's neighbor has just gotten married and she and Frank are invited to dinner to meet the young bride and her family. Shortly after dinner the bride's father is murdered and Frank is asked to investigate the crime and discover who killed his neighbor's father.

Rating:

4/5

This is a series I have been grappling with my feelings on. I have read all of the books in the series but the last few were lackluster at best for me. I was debating whether to continue this series. For me, this book returned the series to all it's former glory and I truly adored this book.

The historical issue this book is centered around is the dairy industry as the murder victim owned a dairy delivery service.

One of the things I have always loved about this series is how so many of the books bring in important historical issues of the time. It makes the setting of these books richer and I often learn things I didn't know about. This book did that for me. Apparently, unsafe milk was killing many children in New York and the dairies who were producing milk often weren't ethical in their production. I was enthralled by all that was happening involving the dairy industry.

Since I have read so many of these books I usually can guess who the murderer was however this time I was kept guessing almost to the reveal. I don't usually read these books for the mysteries because the quality of the mystery in any individual book varies greatly. However I thought this was one of the better done mysteries in the series.

We also got much less of Gino and Mauve in this book which I appreciated. They are sidekick characters. Mauve to Sarah and Gino to Frank. But the last few books I felt like they were trying to take over. I am guessing the reason was because the main character arc of the series with Frank and Sarah has pretty much closed. I felt like Gino and Mauve were supposed to be replacing the romance dynamic. Unfortunately, I don't care about their romance the way I cared about Frank and Sarah's. They are fine as minor characters but I am not interested in them as main characters and several books in this series had started to give them too much page time for my liking.

This is an amazing series which I highly recommend however for maximum enjoyment I do advise reading the books in order. I don't think they are nearly as good out of order. This is not a series where I feel you can just pop in at any book and start reading. Many mystery series are like that. It doesn't really matter much where you start. However, this series really should be read from book 1. ( )

Easy to read and enjoyable murder mystery set in NYC as 1899 draws to a close. Characters are likable. Plot involves gambling and tainted milk, and, of course the police are bribed off the case. ( )