MURDER ON PLEASANT AVENUE

Narrator Suzanne Toren's star-quality performance makes the 23rd episode in Victoria Thompson's Edgar and Agatha Award-nominated Gaslight mysteries delightful listening. When a woman who works at the Daughters of Hope Mission settlement house in East Harlem disappears, P.I. Frank Malloy; his sleuthing partner, Gino Donatelli; and his wife, Sarah, are drawn into the investigation. The feared organized crime group the Black Hand may be involved, since they have been terrorizing the Italian neighborhood, kidnapping people for ransom. When Gino is framed for a murder, the team goes into action to prove his innocence. Toren handles the early-twentieth-century diction perfectly, while descriptions of places, events, and people become almost cinematic. Toren is simply superb delivering this well-loved series. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2020]