MURDER IN MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS By Victoria Thompson
Have you ever heard of a Boston Marriage? In Nineteenth
Century America, unmarried professional women (teachers, social workers) often
shared living quarters. Part of this was
an economic necessity because, just like today, women were paid less than men.
The other part of it was social. Women developed
close friendships with their peers and enjoyed each other’s company. The author Henry James (you probably studied
him in high school) wrote about one of these relationships in his classic novel
The Bostonians. Although the
phrase “Boston Marriage” never appears in his novel, people started calling
these relationships between professional women who lived together Boston
Marriages, no matter what city they lived in. This is the part I love most
about writing historical—learning all this trivia!
In MURDER IN MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, my protagonists Frank and
Sarah Malloy have just opened a private detective agency. They are hired to find out who killed a young
woman who taught at a women’s college and lived with two of the female
professors who had a Boston Marriage. They learn all kinds of fascinating
things about life in a women’s college. They also learn some dangerous secrets,
one of which got an unfortunate young woman murdered.
My fans have been thrilled that Frank and Sarah are finally
married (after 18 books!), although one fan expressed concern that starting a
detective agency would mean Sarah couldn’t participate in solving the crimes
anymore. Don’t worry about that! Sarah is thoroughly involved in this
investigation, along with Gino and even Maeve. And, as always, you’ll learn
things you didn’t know about Old New York.
You can find Victoria at www.victoriathompson.com. Follow her
on Facebook at Victoria Thompson.Author or on Twitter @gaslightvt.
Bio:
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 MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS,
is a May 2016 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 Indiana with her husband and a
very spoiled little dog.
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