In the Shadow of Gotham [Hardcover]

Stefanie Pintoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2009

Dobson, New York, 1905.

Detective Simon Ziele lost his fiancée in the General Slocum ferry disaster—a thousand perished on that summer day in 1904 when an onboard fire burned the boat down in the waters of the East River. Still reeling from the tragedy, Ziele transferred to a police department north of New York, to escape the city and all the memories it conjured.

But only a few months into his new life in a quiet country town, he’s faced with the most shocking homicide of his career to date: Young Sarah Wingate has been brutally murdered in her own bedroom in the middle of an otherwise calm and quiet winter afternoon. After just one day of investigation, Simon’s contacted by Columbia University’s noted criminologist Alistair Sinclair, who offers a startling claim about one of his patients, Michael Fromley—that the facts of the murder bear an uncanny resemblance to Fromley’s deranged mutterings.

But what would have led Fromley, with his history of violent behavior and brutal fantasies, to seek out Sarah, a notable mathematics student and a proper young lady who has little in common with his previous targets? Is Fromley really a murderer, or is someone mimicking him?

This is what Simon Ziele must find out, with the help of the brilliant but self-interested Alistair Sinclair—before the killer strikes again.

With this taut, atmospheric, and original story of a haunted man who must search for a killer while on the run from his own demons, Stefanie Pintoff’s In the Shadow of Gotham marks the debut of an outstanding new talent, the inaugural winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America Best First Crime Novel Competition.

In the Shadow of Gotham is the winner of the 2010 Edgar Award for Best First Novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Pintoff's debut, winner of the first Minotaur Books/MWA Best First Crime Novel award, will remind many of Caleb Carr at his best. The wreck of the steamship General Slocum in 1904 cost Det. Simon Ziele of the New York City police both his fiancée and the full use of his right arm. In response to those losses, Ziele has abandoned big-city policing for the quiet dullness of Dobson, a town in Westchester County, but a brutal murder interrupts his retreat from the world. Someone slashes and bludgeons to death Sarah Wingate, a Columbia mathematics graduate student whose brilliance evoked jealousy in her peers, in her home under circumstances that resemble the notorious murders of Lizzie Borden's parents. Ziele's investigation is soon co-opted by Alistair Sinclair, a student of criminology who's convinced he knows the culprit's identity. The period detail, characterizations and plotting are all top-notch, and Ziele has enough depth to carry a series. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Advance Praise for In the Shadow of Gotham

“Pintoff's debut… will remind many of Caleb Carr at his best... The period detail, characterizations and plotting are all top-notch, and Ziele has enough depth to carry a series.”
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The first winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition nicely contrasts academic theorizing with the reality of police detection set against the backdrop of a vividly depicted turn-of-the-century Gotham. Recommend to readers who enjoy historicals of this period, such as Caleb Carr’s The Alienist and Ann Stamos’s Bitter Tide.”
--Library Journal (starred review)

“Pintoff excavates a rich vein of early criminology… She also delivers a gripping detective story… Great for dexterous plotting and for New York atmosphere at the turn of the last century.”
--Booklist

“What a fabulous first novel… Pintoff’s fascinating historical mystery has believable multidimensional characters… The mystery is original and carefully planned.”
--Romantic Times

“Congratulations to Stefanie Pintoff on this outstanding debut novel!  An appealing character, terrific suspense, and skillful interweaving of historical detail make In the Shadow of Gotham a winner.”
--Marcia Muller, author of Burn Out

"Stefanie Pintoff captures time and place expertly while displaying the procedures and challenges of police work at the dawn of a new age in forensics in this fine first novel. In The Shadow of Gotham will fascinate and educate even as it holds the reader in the suspense of a good mystery. That's a special package."
--Michael Koryta author of Envy the Night

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (April 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312544901
• ISBN-13: 978-0312544904
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #540,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stefanie Pintoff is the Edgar® award-winning author of a mystery series where early criminal science meets the dark side of old New York. Her writing has also earned nominations for the Anthony, Macavity, and Agatha awards. Now a full time writer, she lives on Manhattan's Upper West Side with her husband, daughter, and their family dog.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "It was the rare person who did not harbor some secret.", May 9, 2009

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Shadow of Gotham (Hardcover)

Stefanie Pintoff's "In the Shadow of Gotham" takes place in 1905. The narrator, thirty-year old Detective Simon Ziele, left the New York City Police Department five months earlier to work in the tranquil village of Dobson, New York. It comes as a shock when Simon and his boss, Joe Healy, are summoned to a grisly crime scene, where a twenty-five year old woman named Sarah Wingate has been slashed and bludgeoned to death. Sarah had been a graduate student in mathematics at Columbia University after completing her undergraduate studies at Barnard. She had also been an outspoken advocate for women's rights.

Although Joe and Simon ask for help from the Yonkers police department, no obvious suspects come to light. Their only clues are a locket found near the crime scene and a cryptic telegram from someone named Alistair Sinclair, who claims that he has important information. Sinclair turns out to be a fifty-two year old Columbia Law School professor and criminologist living in New York City. At his Center for Criminological Research, the wealthy Sinclair conducted a study of Michael Fromley, who had a history of assault, battery, petty theft, and attempted murder. This individual admitted to having fantasies about killing women in precisely the way that Sarah was murdered. Could Fromley be the perpetrator of this heinous crime? Simon teams up with Alistair and his widowed daughter-in-law, Isabelle, to locate Fromley and interview everyone who might have relevant information about the case.

Stefanie Pintoff makes the most of her knowledge New York City's history, geography, and culture at the turn of the century. She provides local color about the corruption in Tammany Hall, the General Slocum steamship disaster in 1904 that changed Simon's life, the journalists who exploited every scandal, and the activism of women who tried to improve their status in society. Pintoff also refers to fingerprinting, crime scene photography, and behavioral profiling, practices that were in their infancy at the time.

Unfortunately, the author does not do as well with the rest of her story. Simon Ziele is a bland individual; neither he nor the secondary characters fully come to life. Simon, Alistair, and Isabelle flail around throughout much of this talky narrative, asking endless questions in such places as gambling dens and brothels. As they chase one red herring after another, they become increasingly baffled. When another dead body turns up, Simon is remorseful about his failure to catch the perpetrator before he could strike again. The dialogue is, for the most part, stilted, and the anticlimactic conclusion fails to pack much of a wallop. Perhaps Pintoff will follow up with another book that is more carefully constructed, and with a more fully delineated cast. That would be a novel well worth reading.

83 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You won't want to put it down!, May 11, 2009

By 

Lewis Shaffer (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In the Shadow of Gotham (Hardcover)

I highly recommend In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff. Ms. Pintoff hooks the reader from the first sentence. My only complaint is that once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down and as a result didn't get my usual sleep for a few nights. But it was worth it. Simon Ziele is a fascinating character - a man with secrets, having both physical and emotional pain who is enmeshed in his work as a suburban police officer. Ms. Pintoff put a lot of work into researching the book and as a result the reader, in addition to getting to read a well developed mystery, love story, and psychological novel also gets to learn about New York City in 1905. For example, one gets to learn interesting facts about New York, such as tidbits about Tammany Hall, Grand Central Station, Columbia University, and the General Slocum ferry tragedy.

Without giving away any of the details, the characters and the story are all very believable, and the mystery is well crafted. The book satisfies and at the same time it leaves you wanting more. And fortunately, if what one reads on the Internet is to be relied upon, we may get to enjoy Simon Ziele in sequels.

Treat yourself to a real find - get this book.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Character is like a tree, a reputation ...a shadow. The shadow is what we think if it, the tree the real thing." A Lincoln, May 11, 2010

By 

michael a. draper (Guilford, CT) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: In the Shadow of Gotham (Paperback)

The General Slocum ferry caught fire and burned in June 1904, killing over 1,000 people. One of those who lost their lives was New York Police Detective Simon Ziele's fiancee, Hanah. With so many people having lost friends and family, Ziele moved to the village of Dobson, New York, looking for peace.

His peace is shattered when Simon and his boss, Joe Healy, are summoned to the home of Mrs. Virginia Wingate, where her niece, Sara, has been brutally murdered.

The killing made no sense. Sara had only recently arrived at the Wingate's in search of a place where she could study. She was a student in her fourth year at Columbia. She is active in the movement to enable women to have more voice in politics.

Simon is visited by Alistair Sinclair, a professor of law at Columbia and a criminologist. He states that he believes that Michael Fromley might be the killer. Alistair claims that Fromley has killed previously. With this help, Alistair and his daughter-in-law, Isabella, assist Simon in the investigation.

Interspersed within the story are historical facts of the times. This adds realism and is an interesting side to the story, such as when Simon gets a ride on a "...new Ford B motorcar." While in the car, he realizes that this is his first ride in an automobile.

The psychological novel is well told and the search for the guilty person is logically followed. I did feel that the story's finale was a bit orchestrated.

Simon Ziele is an original and refreshing character. He's very analytical and uses the latest scientific advances, such as the art of fingerprinting, to help solve the case.