i should not have read two period pieces one right after the other. not only are they both turn of the century, but also both girl detectives (molly of in a gilded cage owns her own detective agency while sarah of murder in little italy is technically a mid-wife who detects!), but also each one has a boyfriend in the police force. i'll try to deal with them separately.
murder in little italy by victoria thompson is #8 in her gaslight mystery series. young widow sarah brandt is a mid-wife, who also happens to come from a good family, so can mix with various classes. her career gives the author a chance to work in some slightly unusual mysteries. this one is built around a baby who arrives too early and is too healthy to be the son of the man married to his mother. sarah delivers the baby and finds the mother dead the next day. the novel is historically interesting because the conflict among italian and irish immigrants is important to the plot. conveniently sarah has a boyfriend, detective sergeant frank malloy, who gives thompson a chance to work in some of the changes teddy roosevelt was then making in the n.y. police department.
career girl molly murphy marches with vassar college friends (no, she didn't go. i'm not sure it was all that easy for an irish immigrant to break into the crowd, but this one does it) in a suffrage parade, which doesn't have anything to do with the plot except introduce us to some characters and add a touch of historical authenticity. she manages to be assigned two intertwined cases. for the most part, her new friends live in gilded cages, which molly doesn't plan to do. lucky for her as her husband to be daniel sullivan is with the police force and not a wealthy man. poisons are delivered in an interesting manner as one of molly's friend after the other becomes mysteriously sick. you'll guess from the beginning but still enjoy another easy read.
victoria thompson's murder in little italy is published by prime crime and is 291 pages.
rhys bowen's in a gilded cage is published by st. martin's paperbacks and is 260 pages plus a preview of the next novel in the series.
i've just come from spending a few days at the shaw festival at niagara-on-the-lake, which is why i haven't blogged in about a week. the festival, which was originally a summer festival, now runs through october. go if you have a chance. we saw the doctor's dilemma by shaw, an ideal husband by oscar wilde, half an hourby barrie (it takes place in a little over half an hour), and one touch of venus,a marvelously silly story with choreography by agnes de mille, lyrics by ogden nash and perelman, and music by kurt weill. they don't make them like they used to!! all (except barrie) full of humor and, at the same time, plenty to think about.
as a final note for those who are interested in the bawdy lines of the bard, charles nicholl writes that, 'shakespeare's work is full of stealthy obscenities' and wonders what it tells us about the world's favorite writer's own sex life. he recommends shakespeare, sex and love by stanley wells to get some answers.
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