Reviews

Murder on Lenox Hill by Victoria Thompson

thesubwayreader's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

The thing I love about a long running mystery series is how invested I get into the story arcs that's not about the mystery. Case in point, Murder on Lenox Hill. This book starts with Sarah Brandt being asked to examine a developmentally disabled teenage girl who's pregnant, but no one knows who the father is, not even the young lady. As Sarah investigates, she's drawn to the Church of the Good Shepherd where the murder finally happens quite far into the story. (The murder is pretty easy to figure out.) All that being said, I was much more interested in Sarah and Malloy's interactions, Aggie and Maeve, Brian's progress (he's going to school now), the cold case of Dr. Tom Brandt's murder, and even Mrs. Malloy. I'll check in on them all in the next book.

tlsouthard's review against another edition

3.0

I continue to like this series. The mysteries are interesting, the setting is good. The reason I gave this one only 3 stars is because of a personal bias of mine, which will follow after I put up a giant



SPOILER ALERT/SPOILER ALERT/SPOILER ALERT
























I am sick unto death of every single time an author puts a priest or minister into the story that it is a sure bet that they are skeevy and the perp. As soon as Rev. Upchurch was introduced into the book, I immediately thought, "Well, no sense reading the rest of this one, we know who the bad guy was. And I was right.

Now, granted, he didn't actually do the initial crime, but because of what he did and who he was, the crime happened.

Tired of that trope. Just tired of it. Too easy for an author.

I initially wondered if I would continue with the series, but I will give the next book a try and see.

meera01's review against another edition

4.0

This one was actually funny at the end so I enjoyed the extra bit of humor.

mimima's review against another edition

3.0

I love these cozy mysteries, fascinating look at turn of the century New York, the politics of the times, and a (albeit slow moving) love story

irrlicht's review against another edition

5.0

See my review on "Murder on Astor Place".

leialocks's review

4.0

I love solving crimes with Sarah and Frank. This book was a little different than the others in that murder doesn't bring the two together at the start. The change in format helped freshen up the books. Yet, I love the pacing and dynamic of Sarah and Frank. So, it hardly matters. When you finally get to the murder in the book, it's a hoot of Frank finding the true culprit. I could feel his exasperation with every interview. On to the next one, I'll have to see what Frank finds next on his path for Tom's killer.

fxtrtr's review

4.0

Sarah Brandt is called to the home of the Linton's, an upper middle class family on Lenox Hill. The Linton's 17-year old daughter is displaying signs of pregnancy, which confuses her parents - they never leave her unattended and she only visits families with her mother and church. The difficult part of the situation is the Linton's daughter is feeble-minded. Sarah asks for Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy's help to find the man who took advantage of this poor girl. Suspecting she may have been attacked in her church, Malloy begins questioning the minister and uncovers something unspeakable he wasn't expecting.

dianem18's review against another edition

5.0

I am completely and utterly addicted to this series. This was definitely another great installment. Victoria Thompson writes excellent mysteries but it’s her character and relationship development as well as the story arcs that span the entire series that keep me so riveted. Highly recommend! Another book devoured and I’m on to the next ❤️❤️❤️

Ps LOVED that last scene so much

aworldshapedbybooks's review against another edition

5.0

Maybe it was the anticipation since this is the first book in the series that I got put on a hold list for, but I loved this one! After discovering a pregnant young woman who would have never come to that state on her own, Sarah gets involved in a even more sinister plot involving a corrupt preacher and possible murder. Malloy is simultaneously trying to solve the cold case of her murdered husband, now funded by Sarah's father who seems to want to ruin the dead man's image.

I have mixed feelings about what's going down with Tom Brandt. The series kind of moves slowly on all front, as is what I see as the norm in books with individual mysteries like this. I don't really have a problem with it since there are so many books out, but oh my god it's taking so long to figure this one out. I really hope that Tom Brandt's character isn't sacrificed in favor of pushing Malloy and Sarah's romance forward, though I doubt that that would happen. It's getting interesting though and I can't wait to see how it goes down.

In the first book of this series, I wasn't sure if I liked Malloy because he seemed too controlling and negative. He's really grown as a person though, I know he may have had good intentions from the start but he's just a good person now. I really can't wait to see how he deals with the Tom Brandt situation along with satisfying Felix Decker and keeping Sarah safe at the same time. It's going to be a wild ride for sure.

This review and all my others can be found at: https://aworldshapedbybooks.blogspot.com/

argentrabe's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0