The Devil's Half Mile

Starred review from April 23, 2018
Journalist Hirsch makes his fiction debut with a superb historical whodunit. In 1799, after four years studying law in Ireland, Justy Flanagan returns to Manhattan in search of the truth about the death of his father, Francis, a stock trader who reportedly hanged himself when Justy was 14. Convinced by new evidence that his father was murdered, Justy wants answers from William Duer, a “reckless speculator” and former ally of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, who was Francis’s business partner before the 1792 financial crisis sent Duer to debtors’ prison. But when Justy goes looking for Duer in Manhattan’s New Gaol, he learns that his quarry is dead, and when he reunites with his uncle Ignatius, a powerful landowner who funded his education, he’s met with skepticism about his theory. Justy persists, nonetheless, and Hirsch effortlessly incorporates the political and economic background of the time into the mystery. Fans of Lyndsay Faye’s Gods of Gotham books will welcome this engrossing look at New York a half-century before that series. Agent: Lisa Gallagher, DeFiore and Co.

June 1, 2018

Speculation and sex on Wall Street may sound like a current headline, but Hirsch's first novel places those chancy activities back in 1799. Justice Flanagan, armed with a law degree and other skills picked up during his time in Ireland and Paris, has returned to Manhattan to find out why his father's death was declared a suicide when the evidence suggests murder. His uncle, the boss of the docks, may be involved, but somehow the trail always leads back to the traders at the Tontine Coffee House, precursor of today's New York Stock Exchange. The bodies of "bobtails" (prostitutes) and associates of his father litter Justy's progression through the city as he seeks answers and retribution. One potential villain intimates that personages such as Alexander Hamilton and John Adams could be caught up in some grand financial scheme, in which the elder Flanagan was just a pawn. In the end, Justy has to decide between justice and causing the next American financial panic. VERDICT Loads of period atmosphere and slang (a glossary is included) propel this series-potential story through alleys and plenty of twists, making it a solid choice for historical fiction buffs and lovers of political plots. [Previewed in Lisa Levy's "Crime Fiction's 'Girl Power, '" LJ 4/15/18.]--W. Keith McCoy, Somerset Cty. Lib. Syst., Bridgewater, NJ

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