Thursday, April 21, 2011

Review of Stefanie Pintoff's Edgar Award-winning Novel

Set in 1905, in Dobson, New York. Stefanie Pintoff’s debut novel, In the Shadow of Gotham, was the recipient of the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. The story opens with the murder of a graduate student, young Sarah Wingate, victim of a particularly brutal attack. When a researcher from Columbia, where the victim worked, calls Detective Simon Ziele, claiming he knows the killer’s identity, the book takes off. From the opening chapter, the reader follows Detective Ziele through a labyrinth of false leads and tantalizingly close incidents. Gambling halls, a house of prostitution, and a coroner’s wagon all serve to bring early twentieth-century New York alive, even as time is running out for the killer’s next victim.

Well written and full of historical details, In the Shadow of Gotham is a page turner that is sure to please any reader who likes a touch of history with their mystery.

4 comments:

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Hi, Joyce,

Thanks for bringing our attention to this award-winning novel. I will certainly read it.

Anna Kathryn Lanier said...

Mysteries aren't my usual genre, but this one sounds like a great read. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Joyce Elson Moore said...

Hi Jacqueline: Thanks for stopping by. I read the one of yours set at a university library and loved it. Hope you like Stefanie's.

Joyce Elson Moore said...

Anna: Same with me. I usually have my nose in an historical novel, but I'm sure glad I read Gotham.