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Edward Dee Nightbird
Grand Central Publishing 044652039X / 9780446520393 Hardcover Good
044652039X From Publishers Weekly nThe fourth installment in Dee's gritty police series gets off to a promising start when the body of young Broadway actress Gillian Stone plummets from a building onto the top of a parked van in Times Square, and detectives Anthony Ryan and Joe Gregory quickly realize that her fatal leap may not have been a suicide. The case takes an interesting turn when they discover that Gregory's nephew, magazine writer Danny Eumont, is not only the former boyfriend of the dead actress, but that he received a call from her just hours before her death. But the fingerpointing shifts from Eumont to Gillian's most recent romantic partner, stage producer Trey Winters, when the detectives learn that he was the last person to see her alive. Working with the detectives on the case, Eumont follows the trail of clues to Arizona, Florida and back to New York, researching the missing link in the investigation, who turns out to be the victim's half-sister, Faye Boudreau. Peeling back layers of Faye's hidden identities, Eumont has a brief fling with her and soon discovers that she's involved with her violent, possessive foster brother in a scheme to blackmail the philandering producer. Ryan and Gregory provide their usual stream of sarcastic patter, and the author introduces an engaging array of New York oddballs, immigrants, criminals and seductresses. But Dee (Bronx Angel; Little Boy Blue) doesn't develop much intrigue or surprise around the initial crime after the chilling promise of the opening scene. The final chase, through Randall's Island and Ward's Island, provides a brief flurry of excitement, but readers will appreciate this tale not for its tepid suspense quotient but rather for the snappy, even irreverent NYPD duo's banter throughout. Agent, Gail Hochman. (Oct.) nCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. n nFrom Library Journal nIn the last decade, many of the best police procedurals, those of John Harvey and Jo Bannister, for example, have been set in Britain. But Dee's series, featuring New York detectives Joe Gregory and Anthony Ryan, is one of the few standouts on this side of the ocean. A retired veteran of the NYPD, Dee has a genuine feel for the lives of New York's denizens, making his writing lively and believable. His new work, the fourth in the series, follows the two detectives as they investigate the suspicious suicide of an up-and-coming Broadway actress, Gillian Stone. Along the way, the case gets personal for Ryan, which sets him on a dangerous course in his search for the truth. Dee's blending of the personal and professional lives of his characters is seamless and extremely satisfying. Recommended for all public libraries. n-AJane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI nCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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9.08 EUR
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