I’ve had In the Shadow of Gotham on my nightstand for over a year which says two things: my nightstand is a little out of control (it’s actually more like a bookshelf next to my bed) and the jacket description of the book is pretty interesting to keep a book on the shelf that long. But it took winning the Edgar Award for “Best First Novel by an American Author” for me to finally pick up the book. I’m glad it won.

It is 1905 in Dobson, New York, a wealthy bedroom community of New York City set on the Hudson River. Detective Simon Ziele has moved from the big city to Dobson hoping life will be easy, crime will be as simple as tracking down a lost bicycle, and memories of losing his fiancée in a ferry accident will begin to ease. And six months after the move, his plan seems to be working. Then Sarah Wingate, a young college student and niece of one of Dobson’s elite, is found brutally stabbed in her bedroom.

The day after the body is discovered, a Columbia University criminologist, Alistair Sinclair, contacts Ziele saying he may know who the killer is; a man Sinclair has been studying named Michael Fromley. Fromley has a long history of violent behavior and his murderous fantasies closely resemble the murder of Wingate. Ziele and Sinclair partner up to try and figure out why Fromley may have killed Wingate, using not only intelligence but also the brand new field of forensic science.

Though the mystery is easily solved, the characters are interesting and likeable and the setting is unique. Once started, I read the novel in a single sitting. ~Patti