The Strangler

November 20, 2006
Set in Boston in 1963, Landay's engrossing crime novel is less about the titular strangler than the three Irish-American Daley brothers: Ricky, a thief; Michael, a lawyer; and Joe, a bent cop. A year earlier, the Daleys' father, also a cop, was fatally shot on the job, and the killer has never been caught. The father's partner on the force, Brendan Conroy, has insinuated himself into the family to the point that he's now sleeping with the brothers' mother, Margaret, and is a permanent fixture at Sunday dinner, much to the disgust of Michael and Ricky. Landay (Mission Flats
) movingly explores the bonds of family and basic questions of honesty and loyalty. While the novel suggests another killer than the historical Boston Strangler, the emphasis remains on such themes as crime and punishment, love and honor, truth and justice.

January 1, 2007
In 1963, when Boston is jolted by the Kennedy assassination, the city is already on edge from the murders attributed to the Boston Strangler. Albert DeSalvo confesses, but the police have misgivings. The three sons of murdered detective Joe Daley alternate as protagonists in this suspenseful tale, which mingles real characters with fictional ones. Joe Daley Jr., assigned to the case, is a cop plagued by gambling debts and increasing mob ties. Brother Michael, also on the case, is an assistant district attorney obsessed with his father's death and the possible involvement of his partner. And youngest brother Rickey is a cat burglar whose girlfriend has just been strangled. Landay makes good use of his own experience as a prosecutor, but the real tension is in the moral ambiguities. Framed by the larger story of the Strangler, the inner tale masterfully portrays the insidiousness of greed, even within the Daley family. Good may triumph, but not at all clearly, and the many twists are truly shocking in the hands of this masterly plotter, whose first novel, "Mission Flats", was highly praised. Recommended. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 10/1/06; Brian McGrory's forthcoming "Strangled" (Atria, Feb. 2007) also takes a look at the Boston Strangler case.Ed.]Roland Person, formerly with Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale

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