In a Gilded Cage: A Molly Murphy Mystery

Near the start of Anthony-winner Bowen’s delightful eighth Molly Murphy mystery (after 2008’s Tell Me, Pretty Maiden ), two Vasser alum friends persuade the Irish-born detective to march for women’s rights with the VWVW (“Vassar Wants Votes for Women”) in New York City’s annual Easter parade. On Fifth Avenue that Sunday morning, Molly meets Emily Boswell and other West Side socialites, all of whom wind up getting arrested for disturbing the peace. Molly’s intended, police captain Daniel Sullivan, rescues the women from jail, but is wholly unsympathetic to their mission. The down-on-her-luck Emily, who works in a drugstore, hires Molly to find out the truth about her missionary parents’ deaths and her loss of inheritance. Another Vasser grad has a philandering husband to track. As ever, Bowen does a splendid job of capturing the flavor of early 20th-century New York and bringing to life its warm and human inhabitants. (Mar.)