Detective Simon Ziele had moved to the sleepy, country town of Dobson to the north of New York. He was escaping the city after the loss of his fiancée in the General Slocum ferry disaster. His quiet life is disturbed when Sarah Wingate, a post-graduate mathematics student, is battered to death.
Crime and Inter-woven Lives in Early Nineteenth Century New York
Professor Alistair Sinclair of nearby Columbia University is developing new approaches to criminology and realises that one of his research subjects has expressed fantasies similar to the reports of the Sarah Wingate murder. Much to Detective Ziele’s surprise, Professor Sinclair soon finds him and shares his concerns. The professor offers his help and that of his university research team to the investigation.
However, there is more to the well-connected professor’s offer than it first appears. The detective’s scepticism of the rather theoretical views of the professor and the background to his work with the suspect causes uncertainty and doubt In Ziele's mind. However, despite his concerns the detective reluctantly accepts he has to work with the criminologist but it turns out to be challenging. The doubts not helped by Ziele’s own nightmares and memories of his fiancée’s death or the scepticism of Ziele’s boss, an old school police officer.
In the Shadow of Gotham explores the interwoven relations in the small town and in the wider academic community of Columbia University at a time of political change and the increasing demands for the emancipation of women. Many of the players in the tale have their own histories and parts of their lives they wish, even need, to keep hidden. Not all is as it may seem as the murderer, or someone, seems consistently to be a step ahead of the investigation. The relationships may appear complex but the novel is an easy read.
A Good Read for the Lovers of Crime, Murder and Detective Fiction
The leading characters and the setting are well developed but some of the minor characters remain somewhat shadowy. That does not distract from the story which moves along at a good pace and many readers will enjoy it over one or two sessions. Readers should find In the Shadow of Gotham is a good bedtime read, as long as the content does not cause bad dreams. Like any good murder mystery or detective story, it is an ideal companion for a journey. Most lovers of murder or detective fiction, especially those who also enjoy historical settings, will enjoy it.
Stefanies Pintoff’s In the Shadow of Gotham is the 2010 winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Crime Novel. It is not the author’s first award as she also won the Minotaur Books/ Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel competition.
In the Shadow of Gotham ( 2010, ISBN: 978-0-141-39970-6) by Stefanie Pintoff is published in paperback by Penguin at £6.99.
Martin P Wilson - Martin is a director of major business change & turnaround consultant by profession but a widely published writer & photographer by ...
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