Sarah Brandt, a midwife in late Victorian New York, is a pragmatist and realist. When her mother, a doyenne of New York's high society, goes to a medium to contact a daughter who had died years earlier, Sarah remains skeptical. When one of the attendees gets killed during a seance, Sarah joins forces with her friend, Detective Sergeant Frank Molloy of the New York City police, to solve the murder case and keep her mother's name out of the press.
In addition to the mystery, Murder on Waverly Place, is a commentary on class difference in turn-of-the-century New York. The medium with whom Mrs. Decker is involved comes from a poor Italian immigrant family, and all of her clients belong to the city's upper crust. It also contains plenty of fascinating information on the subtle clues and tricks used to persuade trusting people that they are in contact with their dead loved ones. And although he never makes an appearance himself in the book, the information about the career of a certain US President (before he became president) is also fun.