A Curtain Falls

A twisted fiend stalks the streets of early twentieth-century New York in this evocative tale from the Edgar Award–winning author of In the Shadow of Gotham.The careers of New York City detective Simon Ziele and his former partner Captain Declan Mulvaney went in remarkably different directions after the tragic death of Ziele''s fiancée in the 1904 General Slocum ferry disaster. Although both men were earmarked for much bigger things Ziele moved to Dobson a small town north of the city to escape the violence and Mulvaney buried himself even deeper agreeing to head up the precinct in the most crime-ridden area in the city.Yet with all of the detectives and resources at Mulvaney''s disposal a particularly puzzling crime compels him to look for someone he can trust absolutely. When a chorus girl is found dead on a Broadway stage dressed in the leading lady''s costume there are no signs of violence no cuts no bruises—no marks at all. If pressed the coroner would call it a suicide but then that would make her the second girl to turn up dead in such a manner in the last few weeks. And the news of a possible serial killer would be potentially disastrous to the burgeoning theater world not to mention the citizens of New York.This worthy sequel to Pintoff''s acclaimed Edgar Award-nominated debut In the Shadow of Gotham brings to life New York''s theater world at the turn of the 20th century and the fledgling science of criminology. Fans of Caleb Carr will like this one. —Library Journal