Secret of the White Rose

Starred review from March 7, 2011
Edgar-winner Pintoff proves with her third historical (after 2010's A Curtain Falls) that she's the equal of Caleb Carr. In the fall of 1906, New York City is fixated by the murder trial of anarchist Al Drayson, who planted a dynamite bomb meant for Andrew Carnegie in a horse-drawn cab that exploded and killed five bystanders. While Drayson's fate remains unresolved, criminologist Alistair Sinclair rouses Det. Simon Ziele in the middle of the night with some shocking news: someone has cut the throat of Hugo Jackson, the judge presiding over Drayson's trial, and left a Bible and a white rose near the corpse. Sinclair reveals that Jackson was an old friend, but Ziele eventually concludes that his colleague is hiding something. Drayson's accomplices are the obvious suspects, but Ziele is troubled by his commissioner's refusal to consider alternative theories, even as the killer adds to his body count. The author couples spot-on period details with her most sophisticated plot yet.

June 1, 2011

Detective Simon Ziele (A Curtain Falls, 2010, etc.) investigates his third case in Gilded Age New York.

The city is riveted by the 1906 murder trial of anarchist Al Drayson, who aimed a bomb at Andrew Carnegie but killed innocents. Presiding judge Hugo Jackson receives death threats from both revolutionaries who demand Drayson's freedom and outraged citizens who want him executed immediately. Few are shocked when the judge is found murdered the night after closing arguments. Criminologist Alistair Sinclair, who eagerly uses his society connections to examine the case for clues to the formation of the terrorist mind, drags along his friend Detective Ziele, who lost his fiancée, Hannah, two years ago in a tragic shipwreck, and is now stunned to learn that Hannah's younger brother Jonathan became a violent radical leader. The scene of the crime reveals surprising details. Why was the judge's throat slit when anarchists usually prefer dynamite? More intriguingly, why was the judge left with his hand on a Bible and a white rose? Alistair consults his longtime friend Angus Porter, another prominent judge and a student of symbolism. Meanwhile, the Police Commissioner taps Ziele for his connections to his old immigrant neighborhood. Hours after Alistair sees him, Porter is also found dead with another Bible and another white rose. Despite these peculiar clues, the Commissioner insists that immigrant anarchists be rounded up to pay for the crimes. When the prison holding the radicals is hit by a bomb, Ziele realizes he must bring the killer to justice before the city explodes in violence and the courts become a lynch mob.

Pintoff explores New York at the turn of the century, from its society gentlemen's clubs to its teeming immigrant neighborhoods, without ever resorting to kitsch or stereotypes. Densely plotted, rich in moral ambiguity and guaranteed to grip readers to the very last page.

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Starred review from April 1, 2011

New York City is gripped by anarchist riots and bombings in the fall of 1906. One bombing goes horribly awry, a child is killed, and the arrested young suspect endures the wrath of the city. On the eve of his trial, the presiding judge is murdered in his home, with a Bible under his hand and a white rose next to his corpse. NYPD detective Simon Ziele once again is sleuthing with his mentor, criminologist Alistair Sinclair, and Sinclair's widowed daughter-in-law, Isabella, using the new and controversial method of profiling. When another judge is slain in a similar manner, finding the motivation behind the crimes takes on greater urgency. For one thing, both judges were friends of Alistair; his life is probably in danger, too. VERDICT Pintoff is at the top of her game in this third entry in her Edgar Award-winning historical series (In the Shadow of Gotham; A Curtain Falls). Hand sell to readers who still talk about Caleb Carr's The Alienist. Suspenseful and overlaid with symbols, ciphers, and early psychological study--a real winner. [Library marketing; regional author appearances.]

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