In the Shadow of Gotham

In the Shadow of Gotham (2009) Stefanie Pintoff

Starting this book was rather odd. I had put it on my wish list, and got it for the Kindle when I needed something distracting to read, but wasn’t sure what kind of story it was–was it a mystery or a fantasy?

I figured out it was an historical mystery, and an interesting one at that. Simon Ziele has been sent to Dobson New York to work as a detective there. The current detective resents him, seeing him as pushing him into retirement by making him obsolete with his newfangled methods. But all Simon wants is to escape from the city, where his arm was mangled in the disaster that killed his fiancee.

But crime from the city seems to have followed him to the quite town of Dobson, as the brutal and horrific murder of a young woman shocks the town and sends Simon back to the city, where a researcher (who calls himself a criminologist) claims he know who committed the murder.

Although the mystery starts in Dobson, much of the time is spent in the city, where Simon meets and eventually works with Alistair Sinclair, who has spent years researching the man who he believes committed the murder of Sarah Wingate–except that no one can find any tie between the two, and things soon become more confused the deeper Simon looks into the mystery.

All in all, a nice period piece that looks at both the start of criminology and the modernization of modern detective methods.
Rating: 7.5/10

Published by Minotaur Books

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