What I read this month: February 2025

I barely squeezed a book in this month. February is always a busier month because of my birthday, but this February especially felt slammed. Still, a book is a book.

Books read this month: 1

Total books this year: 3

So what was the one book I read? True to my pattern, when I feel the need to read but can't be bothered to spend too much energy on finding something, I turn to the Gaslight Mysteries. Murder on Madison Square is the 25th book in this series. I liked the focus on the early competition between electric, steam, and gas-powered cars. I'll always think it's crazy how close we were to having electric cars from the start!

I found myself a little annoyed with this book in the beginning, though. The victim's dark "secret" was foreshadowed too overtly, and I always get annoyed when Frank and Sarah don't pick up on things that we, the readers, find so obvious. I know this dramatic irony is partially due to my jaded 21st-century mentality being different than the more genteel, naive perspectives of the 1900s, and in reality they probably wouldn't jump to the same conclusion that I felt was hitting me over the head, but I just don't feel it's well done. Like, make it a little less obvious for me, so that I can believe they'd have a reason to overlook it.

Given the time period and the social status of the characters, it makes sense that they're not immediately attributing nefarious motives to certain actions, but they're detectives! And they've seen at least one case similar to this before! Shouldn't they have a suspicious mindset?

This technique of keeping the characters oblivious past the point of credulity is a pattern of this author, which gets tiresome. Just once I'd like one of the sleuths to pick up on the unsaid before I do.

Other than that, I enjoyed this book. Around the halfway point I realized I understood the motive (before Frank or Sarah) but was still totally lost on who-dun-it. The reveal was juicy, if not a little overdramatic. I finished the book in a day and always appreciate a quick, easy read to get me back on the reading-wagon.

Ali