ISBN 978-0-312-54490-4
Hardcover, 400 pages
Minotaur

Reviewed by Marlene Pyle

In the Shadow of Gotham is an historical crime novel, set in New York in the early 1900’s.  A young woman is murdered in her own home, and Detective Simon Ziele is sent to investigate.  He is working with a criminologist from Columbia University and together the two must unravel the strange circumstances of this killing.  

Police procedures, of course, were vastly different 100 years ago.  It was fascinating to read about the early stages of fingerprinting techniques and the beginnings of what we know today as “criminal profiling.”  Ms. Pintoff, herself a graduate of Columbia Law School, has done an excellent job of researching these areas and her richly-detailed plot makes for a smoothly flowing novel.  

As a winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writer’s of America First Crime Novel Competition, In the Shadow of Gotham will be a tough act to follow for future entrants.  

Copyright © 2009   Marlene Pyle