Under the Manhattan Bridge: An Anita Servi Mystery (Anita Servi Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Irene Marcuse (Author)

Book Description

Series: Anita Servi Mysteries | Publication Date: July 1, 2004

Anita Servi has given up social work; there was too much stress, too many people were dying. So she went to work for her husband, Benno, spending time in the arty community under the Manhattan Bridge, doing simple jobs in his woodworking shop. It was easy, it was fun.

Unfortunately for Anita, the job that was supposed to be peaceful was anything but, and it certainly wasn't fun. Not with the discovery of the body of a young man hidden in the equipment, a boy really, brutally murdered. There was no clue as to his identity, as to why he might have been killed...only a corpse and too many questions that demanded answers.

Asking questions is something Anita knows how to do; sometimes it takes her longer and farther afield to find the answers. This time her search takes her from the Russian baths on the Lower East Side to the Orthodox community in Williamsburg and the artists' galleries of the East Village. What she uncovers--links between party drugs, a stash of old diamonds and some expected greed--brings one of Irene Marcuse's praised denouments.

The highly praised Anita Servi mysteries, are not only set in New York, but bring the character of the city to life, as they explore the ways in which we treat each other. Drawing on her long career as a social worker and activist, Irene Marcuse portrays the city vividly while offering brilliant mysteries for the puzzle lover in all of us.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Agatha-nominee Marcuse once again sensitively explores serious social issues in her fourth cozy (after 2002's Consider the Alternative) to feature former New York social worker Anita Servi. Still reeling from the devastation of 9/11 and the death of her best friend shortly thereafter, Anita has found some solace in working for her husband, a cabinet maker. One day in the finishing room, however, she discovers the body of an unidentified young man in the vacuum press, a gluing machine that sucks the air out of a plastic bag and presses down on its contents. While willing to leave the forensics and the search for the murderer to the police, Anita sets out to give the victim a name and embarks on an investigation that ultimately puts her and her family in peril. The author brings to life the community of Orthodox Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, drug dealers, artists and other residents of the Brooklyn neighborhood known as Dumbo (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) in the aftermath of 9/11. While those looking for a conventional whodunit may be disappointed, the independent, curious, gutsy, smart, humorous and above all caring Anita remains a model sleuth for the new century.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Another thoughtful and deeply New York mystery from Marcuse, this one taking place in the weeks just after September 11, 2001. Although the book's focus is not on what happened that day, it perfectly captures the uneasy tenderness, the outbreaks of inappropriate emotion, and the devastating sadness that gripped New Yorkers as the city managed to right itself and go on. Anita Servi's husband, Benno, has moved his woodworking shop to Brooklyn, and Anita, who lost her job as a social worker, has been functioning as his assistant. When she finds a body in the shop vacuum press, the horror is magnified when it turns out that the victim was an Orthodox Jewish teenager who had been using Ecstasy and crystal meth. The Orthodox and the Jehovah's Witness communities in Brooklyn, along with the artists of Manhattan's DUMBO neighborhood (under the Manhattan Bridge), all play roles in this carefully wrought tale. A steadily improving, multifaceted series. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; First Edition edition (July 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765308045
• ISBN-13: 978-0765308047
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,112,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Engaging writing, shallow story, December 5, 2004

By 

liquid_glass "liquid_glass" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Under the Manhattan Bridge: An Anita Servi Mystery (Anita Servi Mysteries) (Hardcover)

While Marcuse is a fairly decent writer, this story is shallow and underdeveloped -- no wonder, considering the book is a slim 288 pages. The mystery plot in itself all right, but all the characters that populate it are all stereotypes -- e.g., holier than thou Jews; overly friendly Witnesses; people who moved to New York from other states; and gay, pretentious artists -- and we never really find out out people's motivations for what they're doing, particularly when they seem to be violating their own religions' dictates. This book reads like it was written by someone who's seen a documentary about life in Brooklyn rather than someone who's lived it.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Concidence Mystery, February 18, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Under the Manhattan Bridge: An Anita Servi Mystery (Anita Servi Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Anita Servi was working one day when she found a corpse of a teenager in a vacume press. Helen, an aquaintance of Anita, recognized the boy murdered as her grandson, Shimon Edelman. Helen was later murdered when a robbery went bad in search for Shimon's stash of the drug, Ectasy. When Grant one of Anita's friends tied her up, he admitted to putting Shimon in the vacume press and cutting it on to suck the air out of his lungs and body. He was later caught escaping from the hostage scene. I reccomend this book to teenagers to adults who are fit to solve a great Anita Servi Mystery.

Anita Servi found most of the clues leading to who killed or was involved in the murders of Helen Baum and Shimon Edelman. She figured out part of the reason of Shimon's death was because he was a drug addict from a few people who had bought drugs from him. Also Anita found out that all the keys to her work building are the same and can open any of the doors, which meant that any worker in the building had access to the vacume press; where Anita found Shimon. She also figured out that one of her friends, Grant Farrell, was one of the people who last saw Shimon before he died; for he had been making and selling drugs with him.

All of Anita's friends really trusted her with knowing the personal events that go on in their lives. An artist, Carlos, that lived across the street told her that he had been to a place where they were selling and making drugs and he remembered seeing Shimon. Also Helen Baum confessed to Anita before she died, that Shimon had sold her some Ectasy and was storing it in her home. Leah Swersky, a friend of Richard Linden, told Anita that Richard was accidently involved with the murder of Shimon Edelman.

This novel takes place in modern day New York like we are actually there in person seeing all the sights. Mainly everyone in this book to the subways and trains, just like people still do now instead of driving in the traffic. A lot of people illegally made and sold drugs in secret places in New York, still like that do today except there are only less illegal drug makers. This novel also mentioned that different religions had there own designated places to live, like the Jewish and Orthodox people. Today many say some people still live like it was long ago.

This book is a mystery fit for masterminds to solve as they read it with many twists and turns about. It takes place in modern day New York, just like in reality. Many of Anita's friends were involved with the murders, which made it easier for them to spill their guilt to her. Anita puts herself through a lot trouble to find more clues to who killed Shimon Edelman and Helen Baum, like talking to stranger and asking aroung the neighborhoods.
T.Brown

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling tale of cultures in New York City, July 14, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Under the Manhattan Bridge: An Anita Servi Mystery (Anita Servi Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Irene Marcuse's best work yet. Draws you in during the first chapter and keeps you engaged with snapshots of the wonderful cultural mix that is New York! The author transitions each chapter well and keeps the reader on top of the story -- giving asides that reflect the personality of the social worker sleuth Anita Servi. Ms. Marcuse depicts a realistic view of life in DUMBO -- the drugs, the ethnic groups intermingling, the artists claiming their spaces -- against the background of deaths that lead to transformations. I highly recommend this book to those wanting to know more about this fascinating area.