26.
Author(s): Victoria Thompson
Title: Murder in Little Italy
Publication: Kindle
Pages:
Genre: Mystery
Acquisition:
Date Completed: March 18, 2011
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

When a young Irish girl finds herself unexpectedly expecting she turns to a dalliance with a young Italian to secure a future for herself and her newly-growing family. Sarah Brandt is called in to deliver the child "early," but the shrewd midwife and unforgiving mother-in-law quickly put two and two together, and realize that the healthy full-time baby couldn't possibly be the offspring of the young Italian. Tempers fly, challenges are made, and Sarah does what she can to mediate for the sake of the newborn. Interestingly, the young Irish girl remains calm and smug despite the threads, and assures the midwife that things will work out just fine indeed.

Which, in the world of mystery novels, means she's destined to die as soon as someone turns their back.

I enjoyed this mystery as much as I have the others, but I've come to realize that I've made a mistake in judgment in relation to this stories: I've always worked under the assumption that the female protagonist is extremely intelligent. Sarah Brandt is an seemingly a wonderful midwife and confidant, and her upbringing makes her an ideal interrogator for unsuspecting suspects, but she is no detective. Time and again she puts herself in danger, and in this particular novel she completely glosses over the confession she hears early in the narrative - not to mention the glaring red arrows that point out the guilty party.

Still, for a cozy mystery series, the Gaslight Mysteries continue to be enjoyable, and I appreciate the slow development that Thompson is drawing out in terms of Mrs. Brandt and Detective Malloy's relationship.