Murder by Definition

Lehane’s intriguing fourth 42nd Street Library mystery (after 2019’s Murder Off the Page) finds librarian Ray Ambler curating a collection of papers by influential mystery author Will Ford for the New York Public Library’s Crime Fiction Collection. Among Ford’s papers, Ray discovers an unpublished short story about a triple murder over a drug deal. Curious, Ray does some research and finds that Ford’s story is the same in every particular to an actual 1990s-era murder—except for one important detail. In real life, the murderer confessed and went to prison. In Ford’s story, the real killer got away scot-free. Which was true, the story or the newspaper account? Ford’s not talking, so Ray asks his friend, NYPD homicide detective Mike Cosgrove, to look into it. But as soon as Mike starts asking questions, people start dying. When Mike himself becomes a target, the task of finding the real killer becomes personal for Ray. Memorable prose (“Ray stayed in the background pretending he was doing something on his computer—like the guy in the old mystery movies who had his ear pressed against the door and fell into the room when the inspector yanked it open”) helps make up for the dense and increasingly complicated plot. Those with a taste for noir lite will want to check this out. Agent: Alice Martell, Martell Agency. (Dec.)