Set in New York City in 1946, this superb crime novel from Coffey (Miami Twilight
) will remind many readers of the hard-hitting work of James Ellroy. Soon after Patrick Grimes, a psychologically scarred WWII vet who’s a reporter for a tabloid newspaper, arrives at a crime scene in a seedy Manhattan neighborhood known as Blood Alley, he realizes that the police are intent on framing the African-American watchman who discovered the body of society girl Amanda Price for murder. Grimes’s independent investigation soon puts him at odds with Amanda’s wealthy family as well as his own supervisors at the paper. The reporter doggedly follows a twisted trail of real estate transactions and corrupt businessmen to uncover a number of powerful people who might have wanted Amanda dead. Sterling prose (“It was the voice of a girl who knew she would never be lonely because all her hellos were given to people who wanted her company”) and a pulse-pounding plot combined with an authentic picture of a mob-ruled New York City make this a compelling read. (May)
