"Murder on Bedford Street" is a historical mystery set in New York City in 1900. But it's a "mystery" only because it's in a mystery series. It wasn't until a third of the way into the book that a murder was even uncovered, and even then it was pretty obvious whodunit. As Frank, Sarah, Gino, and Maeve investigated, people strongly hinted at and later outright accused whodunit of the murder. Near the end, there was another murder. By then, they knew whodunit but spent about one page trying to find any proof before giving up. So not much mystery.

At best, you could call this a suspense. The investigators stubbornly refused to change their initial assumptions in the face of ever-increasing clues, and you just knew whodunit was going to kill again. Only Maeve seemed open to the actual evidence, logic finally won Gino and Frank over, but Sarah didn't show well at all. I found the story frustrating. It could have been an interesting mystery as they worked the difficult task of actually proving whodunit (as knowing and proving are two different things). Instead, most of the book was watching supposedly smart characters be about the only ones who didn't understand whodunit.

This is the 26th book in the series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this one didn't spoil the whodunit of the previous mysteries. There was no sex or bad language.

Thompson is back with the latest story involving Sarah, Malloy, and their family as they try to rescue a girl from an insane institution. I really, really enjoyed this story because mental healthcare at this time in history was abysmal. Women had hardly any say in it, they could be locked up for reasons they couldn't fight, and the conditions they had to live in were horrifying. The twist in this book had me gasping and re-reading passages to see if I could've spotted the curveball sooner, and no way! Thompson had me racing through the pages to figure out the whodunnit, all while enjoying the dynamics of Malloy, Gino, Sarah, Maeve, and the family. I really and completely enjoyed this installment in the series!

I'm afraid I did not love this one! The mystery felt rather heavy-handed and not particularly mysterious. I always enjoy reading about the collection of supporting characters, and Sarah's mother makes several appearances...so there's that.

Loved the newest edition to the series! It was an exciting read with lots of twists and turns. Can wait to return to these characters in the next book!

Frank is hired to find evidence to free a woman wrongfully declared insane by her husband - or was she. This reciting novel looks at women's rights and the treatment of the insane in times past.

Another fine entry in the series that kept me up late turning pages to see where it would end. This time Sarah and the gang work to free a woman who has been committed to an insane asylum by her mistress-keeping husband. The period details, particularly those in this installment about mental health care, make this series shine.

Sarah, Frank and the gang are back. This new case seems to be an easy one. Get the wife and mother out of the asylum where she doesn’t belong, or does she. Love this series.
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