In the world of the deaf, emotions are sometimes hard to express. At the turn of the 20th century, when sign language was first coming into use, a communication option that would free the deaf from silence faced staggering opposition. In Victoria Thompson's latest Gaslight Mystery, MURDER ON LEXINGTON AVENUE, she explores this conflict in a suspenseful murder mystery that will have readers holding their breaths until the very end.

Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy has been called in to investigate the horrific murder of businessman Nehemiah Wooten. A prominent member of society and supporter of the Lexington Avenue School, a school for the deaf which his daughter Electra attended, Wooten was also a follower of Alexander Graham Bell's theory that deaf people shouldn't be allowed to marry another deaf person in fear that their offspring would also be deaf. Wooten was also known for being vehemently opposed to his daughter learning sign language, a view that brought much conflict into his home. As Malloy investigates the murder, he visits the Wooten home where he learns that Electra had hoped to secretly marry her teacher, Adam Oldham, who was also deaf. While interviewing the family, Mrs. Wooten suddenly goes into labor, and Malloy calls upon his old friend (and darn good amateur sleuth), midwife Sarah Brandt, to attend the surprise delivery -- a surprise made more so by the fact that Mrs. Wooten was pregnant by her young lover, not the recently deceased Mr. Wooten.

Scandals galore erupt in this post-Victorian era mystery as Victoria Thompson once again delights her readers with a fascinating who-dun-it. As the 12th installment of the Gaslight Mystery series, MURDER ON LEXINGTON AVENUE once again pairs up the charming couple of Detective Malloy and Sarah Brandt as they work together to solve another mystery in the gas-lit streets of New York City. Thompson's keen eye for detail give these novels the old-fashioned intrigue that keeps her readers coming back for more.

Book Summary

When an influential man in the deaf community is murdered, Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy is assigned the case, presumably because his own son attends the New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. The victim championed the programs offered by a rival institution with different views on the deaf, so Malloy suspects the murderer may be affiliated with his son's school--and reluctantly turns to midwife Sarah Brandt for assistance.

Finding herself in an unfamiliar world, Sarah must determine who is innocent before she and Malloy can ever hope to find the killer.