Review: In The Shadow of Gotham (Stefanie Pintoff)

Greetings again! Can't truly express how glad I am that the week is over. I dread having to go back to the grind on Monday, but at least the commute gives me time to read the next book in my TBR file. I'll mention more about that later.

Finished In The Shadow of Gotham yesterday morning. Only took me a few commutes to read. It's really a fantastic book! Stefanie Pintoff totally deserved the awards she received for this mystery story set in turn of the 20th century New York.

Detective Simon Ziele, the protagonist, left New York City after the Slocum ferry disaster claims the life of his fiancee. He moves to Dobson, just north of the city, in the hopes of starting anew. It's a quiet town that finds itself to be the scene of a gruesome murder. Sarah Wingate is found in her bed one November afternoon with her neck cut and her face beaten beyond recognition. (I'm not giving anything away, so remain calm.) As Simon begins to investigate, a Columbia professor, Alistair Sinclair, goes to Dobson to help Simon. Professor Sinclair claims the murdered is Michael Fromley--a psychopath he has studied for three years that hasn't been seen in two weeks.

This begins a partnership that Simon doesn't seem to really want or care for, but Alistair provides the best leads in the case. Ms. Pintoff does a great job of pacing the story and of giving insight into how Simon's mind works. He's definitely a change from Aimee Leduc. She's always hiding information or lying to get people to cooperate and Simon is much more upfront. It makes sense, since he's an actual police officer, but it still felt a little weird to me.

Now, I had no idea when I picked up this book that it was the first in a new series. I really didn't. I used to be totally anti-series. However, reading mystery novels makes it difficult to stay away from series. And, actually, I think I have stopped hating series. That change of heart has come about more because of my own change in attitude towards reading in general than anything else. I used to force myself to read through a book whether I enjoyed it or not. No more! So, I can pick up any series I want now and not have to worry about finishing all the books.

Next up: By Fire, By Water, by Mitchell James Kaplan. I have two holds that have come in at the library and two books from the library, besides By Fire, By Water, sitting on my self waiting to get picked. The books on my shelf are: The Last Rendezvous, by Anne Plantagenet, and The Last Time I Saw You, by Elizabeth
Berg. The books I have to pick up are: The Hand That First Held Mine, by Maggie O'Farrell, and The Stormchasers, by Jenna Blum.