I listened to an excellent audio version narrated by Steven Boyer.
New York City in the mid 1800s was a patchwork of competing and warring tribes. The newest immigrants getting the worst of it (the Irish0 at that moment. But political bosses and religions were just as divisive. It was in the midst of that wild madness that the first police force was formed, most of the members of that force selected by the Democatic party bosses, rather than by any person looking for any real credentials. But then, policing was mostly knocking heads together, rather than solving crimes. Into that mix comes Timothy Wilde, whose brother is a political boss and whose former job ended in a huge fire that swept through the city.
Timothy, much to his own surprise, finds he takes to the task, and when he discovers a dead kinchin, he’s swept up by his emotions and desires to solve the death of this little unwanted child. When yet more bodies turn up, he’s driven to create his own methods to find out just who is responsible and make them pay.
Beautifully written, period details are well drawn, and the tale is atmospheric and moving. You can almost imagine the misery that so many people experienced then.
The mystery itself is complex enough to draw you in and compel you forward to want to find out the whole story.
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