A day in the life with Frank Malloy by Victoria Thompson

If you’ve read about me in any of the Gaslight Mysteries, you probably remember me as a Detective Sergeant with the New York City Police. I was a cop my entire adult life, up until they fired me about a year ago. Oh, don’t feel sorry for me. They fired me because I got too rich to be a cop. But that’s a story for another day. Today’s story starts at home. Now that Sarah Brandt and I are married, we live in this gigantic house her neighbor, Mrs. Ellsworth, found for us. I’m glad it’s big because we share it with my mother, my son, Sarah’s daughter, our Nanny, our maid and our cook. So after breakfast is over, I’m often glad I’ve got an office to go to.

The office is the detective agency I now own, thanks to my former colleague from the police department, Gino Donatelli. While Sarah and I were on our honeymoon, Gino and our Nanny, Maeve Smith, decided I needed something interesting to fill my time, and they’d already solved our first case by the time Sarah and I got home from our European tour.

This morning I arrived at my office to find Gino had found a new client for us. Will Bert was looking for his brother who worked as a newsboy in the city. The orphaned boys had gotten separated when Will had been taken out west on the Orphan Train to find adoptive parents. Now that Will is grown, he wants to find Freddie and give him a home.

Since I don’t have to worry about earning a living anymore, I can take the cases I like, even if I don’t get paid, and I didn’t need to get paid to help these two brothers find each other. The trouble was, once Gino and I started investigating, we found out everything Will Bert had told us was a lie, including his name. That gave us a whole new mystery to solve, and we were very interested to find out the real reason Will Bert wanted to find Freddie. Then people started turning up dead, and the situation became more and more desperate. What did a missing debutant, a gangster from the Bowery, and a poor newsboy have in common?

The answers we found surprised us, but I won’t spoil it for you. Meanwhile, I’m on to the next case.

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You can read the whole story and find out what Sarah and the rest of her family have been up to as well in Murder in the Bowery, the 20th book in the Gaslight Mystery Series.

Former police sergeant turned private detective Frank Malloy and his wife Sarah are caught up in the strange world of a society woman who enjoyed flirting with danger but found death instead. . . Frank Malloy’s latest client is well-dressed Will Bert. He’s searching for his brother, a newsboy named Freddie so he can share his new financial good fortune. Frank makes quick work of the case and locates Freddie but a happy reunion between brothers is not in the cards.

When Will’s name is mentioned, Freddie runs off—only to be found dead a short time later. A suspicious Frank tracks down Will who spins a tale of lust and deceit involving a young society woman Estelle Longacre. Estelle’s risky behavior took a fatal toll but Frank can’t be sure if the company she kept is to blame or if her own ruthless family had a hand in her death.

Frank will need Sarah’s help to unearth the dark secrets of the Longacres and to discover if there is a connection between Estelle and Freddie’s death. Together they must navigate an underground web of treachery to find answers.

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About the author
Edgar® and Agatha Nominated author Victoria Thompson writes the Gaslight Mystery Series, set in turn-of-the-century New York City and featuring midwife Sarah Brandt. Her latest, Murder in the Bowery, is a May 2017 release from Berkley Prime Crime. She also contributed to the award winning writing textbook Many Genres/One Craft. Victoria teaches in the Seton Hill University master’s program in writing popular fiction. She lives in Illinois with her husband and a very spoiled little dog. Find out more at www.victoriathompson.com.

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