cover image Stealing from the Dead

Stealing from the Dead

A.J. Zerries. Forge, $24.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-7653-2717-8

Set in 2005, this fast-moving and often surprising crime thriller from Zerries (The Lost Van Gogh) introduces Greta Strasser, a take-no-prisoners NYPD detective who could easily sustain a series. When Greta arrives at the Upper West Side apartment of a woman who appears to be a simple DOA (“Dead, Old, and Alone”), she can’t help noticing a subtle anomaly—evidence suggesting that Holocaust survivor Paulina Kantor was not alone when she died of a heart attack. Her investigation makes her no friends in her Manhattan precinct, but does attract the attention of an elderly ex-CIA agent, Theo Appel, who believes Kantor’s death is not only the latest in a series but connected to a scheme to steal restitution funds for survivors of the Nazis. Greta must also track down a gang-banger, and both cases end up attracting federal scrutiny. Part of the resolution is a little too pat, but overall the plot elements work well. Agent: Barbara Braun Associates. (Aug.)