Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

In the Shadow of Gotham (Simon Ziele #1)

3.43 of 5 stars 3.43 · rating details · 1,888 ratings · 378 reviews

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...more

ebook, 400 pages

Published April 28th 2009 by Minotaur Books

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 04, 2011 Sue rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: readers of historical fiction, historical mystery and crime

Shelves: crime-thriller, historical-fiction, mystery, read-in-2011, library-book, favorite-authors

Ah!! A new historical fiction series for me to enjoy. Set in 1905, this first entry involves a brutal murder in a small town just outside New York city and pulls in a former city policeman who now lives in that community. The reader is treated to a picture of the state of crime-fighting at that time, with wonderful visual pictures of the New York and suburban streets. New methods of understanding criminal behavior are being tested during the search for the killer.

Highly recommended for those who...more

5 likes · like · see review

Apr 13, 2013 Bev Hankins rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-mystery, mystery, american-mystery, early-20th-c, mount-tbr-2013

When I started looking for a final book for the Criminal Plots III Reading Challenge (Read a novel that's been nominated for and Edgar in the last five years), I was relieved to find In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff sitting on my shelves since I'm trying really hard to read more from my own stacks. I'm not much for reading more recent books, but I had picked this one up last May while browsing in our Friends of the Library used book store. It was purely a whim--based on the cover, the...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 03, 2013 Cate rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I finished In The Shadow of the Gotham late last night, and actually woke first thing in the morning annoyed. It’s not that Stefanie Pinoff is a bad writer. It’s that she’s got talent and then doesn’t use it to advantage.

****Spoilers ahead****

She obviously believes that her protagonist Simon Ziele is an intelligent man; someone worthy of pitting against a psychopathic killer. But he isn’t. He’s incredibly stupid. He’s such an inept police detective that he invites a circle of people into his in...more I finished In The Shadow of the Gotham late last night, and actually woke first thing in the morning annoyed. It’s not that Stefanie Pinoff is a bad writer. It’s that she’s got talent and then doesn’t use it to advantage.

****Spoilers ahead****

She obviously believes that her protagonist Simon Ziele is an intelligent man; someone worthy of pitting against a psychopathic killer. But he isn’t. He’s incredibly stupid. He’s such an inept police detective that he invites a circle of people into his investigation even though we all know from the start that they are all somehow connected to the possible killer. He doesn’t know these people from Adam. We’re not talking about an amateur sleuth here, we are talking about someone who we are to believe is a trained professional! Ziele doesn’t have any previous experience with these people, and no one has recommended them to him. One has simply introduced himself to Ziele on day one of the investigation and all of the sudden, he’s in like Flynn, and taken into Ziele’s every confidence. He and his group are now privy to every single move that Ziele makes. For God’s sake, he’s practically working out of their offices! Ziele repeatedly says to himself, “I don’t trust this guy,” but then proceeds to work with him and his associates. He’s baffled as to why the killer seems to know his every move—why a key witness, for instance, is killed immediately following a secret interview with he and members of this group. At the first meeting with the group, and Ziele observes that one member of this group is creeping out the one woman present, and also he has an injury to his head, but Ziele accepts his explanation even though he’s just met the guy. Even when halfway through the book we are made fairly certain that one of this circle is the killer, Ziele never interviews these obvious suspects. He says, “Now everyone is suspect,” and yet continues to involve them in the investigation! Meanwhile he’s running around New York with these people interviewing secondary suspects. People die as a result of his stupidity, but at the end of the book we are told that the Mayor commends him for his work on the investigation. Really? I think rather, he would have lost his badge. I kept reading, because I thought, no way. This author is going to turn the whole thing on its head. It’s not going to be one of this group, and surely not the creepy guy with the head injury. No such luck.
(less)

like · see review

Aug 06, 2012 Alex rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked up Stefanie Pintoff's "In the Shadow of Gotham" looking for a good historical fiction with plenty of thrills. As someone who enjoys murder mysteries and New York's history, this book had a lot of promise. Unfortunately, it did not deliver.

The story itself meanders quite a bit and is very talky, with little excitement. There is a great deal of focus on criminology, which the author clearly researched is some detail. While the plotline does eventually take some interesting twists and is i...more I picked up Stefanie Pintoff's "In the Shadow of Gotham" looking for a good historical fiction with plenty of thrills. As someone who enjoys murder mysteries and New York's history, this book had a lot of promise. Unfortunately, it did not deliver.

The story itself meanders quite a bit and is very talky, with little excitement. There is a great deal of focus on criminology, which the author clearly researched is some detail. While the plotline does eventually take some interesting twists and is intriguing enough, it is never really thrills until the very end. While I thought the conclusion was satisfying, it feels very much like a classic Hollywood ending that we've seen many times before.

The characters in the book, particularly the main character, Simon Zeile, feel bland, and as other reviewers have noted, "do not come to life." The only thing we really learn about Ziele is that his fiancé died in the General Slocum shipwreck and his upbringing was tragic and clichéd. The only real emotion he seems to feel throughout the book is his frustration at his inability to catch the murderer- not very surprising given that he is a detective. Most of his character is revealed through Zeile's bland, first person narrative such as: "Who had killed her? And Why?"

For a true history-lover like myself, this book will likely disappoint. Like many of the characters, turn-of-the-century New York City never really comes to life. While there are occasional references to Tammany Hall and the Suffragist Movement, most of the history is quickly referenced and not described or explained. For example, Zeile seems to take riding the subway for granted, and not once mentions that first underground New York subway had opened only one year before this story takes place, and would have been a novelty. The first time he rides in an automobile only merits a sentence or two. The dialogue sounds like it could have come from any era, and many details, such as Ziele's taste for double espresso or a reference to "boneless stuffed chicken wings", feel somehow out-of-place for 1905.

Historically, parts of this book verge on the ridiculous. The reader is supposed to believe that Zeile photographs the crime scene and then examines the photographs later that night- with no mention the laborious chemical process this would have required as if there had been "one hour photo" in 1905. Some historical references are even inaccurate. For example, one murder suspect is described as residing in Columbia's "Wallach Hall," despite that fact that Wallach hall had been "Livingston Hall" until it was renamed in the 1970s. A quick Google search would have revealed that the building's namesake, New York philanthropist Ira D. Wallach, was not even born when this story took place! Such inaccuracies make me wonder how much historical research and fact-checking were really done for this book.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Oct 21, 2011 Doreen Fritz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first in a series of mysteries that take place in turn-of-the-century New York City. Simon Ziele is the detective. He is working in a small town just north of NYC where a young woman has been bludgeoned to death in her aunt's home. The investigation takes Simon back to the big city, where the young woman had been a gifted university mathematics student. Simon is contacted by Alistair Sinclair, a criminologist, who insists that he knows who has committed the murder. A man whom Sinclair had in...more

like · see review

Sep 23, 2011 Jaime rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1800s, historical_fiction, mystery, police_procedural

I saw Pintoff’s books recommended in an article by Jason Pinter, and knew immediately that I had to add them to my wish list. This was an entertaining depiction of turn-of-the-century investigation, where one often had to rely more upon luck than physical evidence. Not only do we see the earliest days of forensics, where even fingerprinting is brand new, but we see the beginnings of the use of criminology. It’s a time period I find particularly interesting to read about; a world caught somewhere...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 21, 2011 Marleen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After suffering a personal tragedy in 1905, Detective Simon Ziele has transferred from New York City to a country town north of Manhattan where he expects his life and work to be less violent.
Within months of starting his new position he has to reassess this assumption when he’s called to the scene of a brutal murder. A young girl has been killed and severely beaten in her own bedroom. Nobody appears to have seen anything and Ziele and his boss appear to be facing an impossible investigation.
The...more

like · see review

Jun 14, 2011 Deb rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · like · see review

Jan 24, 2011 Catherine Siemann rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: neovictorians

Historical mysteries set in New York City are like catnip to me -- I love NYC history, and I love seeing how the author will play with the conventions. This one, set in 1905, was . . . pretty good. There were some anachronisms and other slips that jarred me: particularly a reference to a man's shirtwaist (wouldn't it be shirtwaists for women and shirts for men at that time?) and a couple of academic specifics about journal publication and "professor emeritus" (a 55 year old man who was still tea...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jun 01, 2010 Joyce Lagow rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-edition, police-procedural

Winner of the 2010 Edgar Award for Debut mystery novel, In The Shadow of Gotham is set in the New York City of 1905. It pairs up a young detective with a criminologist--therefore setting up inevitable comparisons with Caleb Carr's series set in the same time frame and with somewhat the same setup. But the comparison begins and ends there, because Pintoff's novel comes nowhere near Carr's series in either writing quality, evocation of setting or, in particular, characterization. The last is most...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 02, 2010 Lucinda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In the Shadow of Gotham (Minotaur 2009) introduces Simon Ziele, a police detective who lost his fiancee and the full use of his right arm in the 1904 wreck of the steamship General Slocum. Ziele has relocated from New York City to the town of Dobson, hoping for a quieter existence and time to recover from his loss, but the brutal and bloody murder of young mathematics student Sarah Wingate shatters his peaceful retreat. The investigation has barely begun when Ziele receives a communication from...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jul 14, 2009 Margaret rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It’s the year 1905 in Dobson, New York. On a mild winter evening, someone brutally murders Sarah Wingate in her bedroom while she’s visiting relatives. A brilliant mathematician, she had a promising future ahead of her. So why would anyone want to kill her?

After the death of his fiancée on the General Slocum ferry disaster in the summer of 1904, Detective Simon Ziele transfers to a police department north of New York, away from the city, to heal. He didn’t expect to encounter a vicious homicide...more It’s the year 1905 in Dobson, New York. On a mild winter evening, someone brutally murders Sarah Wingate in her bedroom while she’s visiting relatives. A brilliant mathematician, she had a promising future ahead of her. So why would anyone want to kill her?

After the death of his fiancée on the General Slocum ferry disaster in the summer of 1904, Detective Simon Ziele transfers to a police department north of New York, away from the city, to heal. He didn’t expect to encounter a vicious homicide involving a young woman. Twenty-four hours into the investigation, Columbia University’s noted criminologist, Alistair Sinclair, contacts Ziele and tells him that Sarah’s death closely resembles the fantasies of one of his research subjects, Michael Fromley, who has been missing for the last two weeks.

On the same day that Sarah is murdered, Stella, the housemaid, turns up missing. Did she witness something that terrified her, or could it be for some other reason that she fled the scene? The more Detective Ziele uncovers, the more puzzling the crime becomes, taking him into the shady world of gambling and gentlemen’s clubs.

In the Shadow of Gotham is a magnificent debut mystery. Clues are plenty and puzzling, challenging the reader to detect right along with Detective Ziele. He’s a well-rounded character with a tragic past, which makes him instantly likable and memorable—and I hope to catch him in future mystery novels by Stefanie Pintoff. More than just Ziele, though, all of the characters are unique and special in their own way, making them stand out from one another.

At the same time, Ms Pintoff manages to make the perpetrator look suspicious without giving his or her identity away until the end. That can be tricky thing to achieve, but Ms Pintoff pulled it off smoothly. And, in the end, I was both surprised and not surprised; I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t.

Though In the Shadow of Gotham is more about the procedure of catching a criminal than it is about the action, I still found the plot to be suspenseful, engaging, and interesting. Some authors can lay a story before you with smooth-flowing prose, making it easy to become engrossed in the plot, even when nothing heart-pounding is happening. Ms. Pintoff is one of those authors.

Don’t miss this deep, mesmerizing mystery by first-time author Stefanie Pintoff. You owe it to yourself to get lost in a great read like In the Shadow of Gotham.

First appeared in NightsandWeekends.com: http://www.nightsandweekends.com/arti...(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jun 07, 2009 Carol rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Here's a debut well worth reading. If you like forensics, the workings of the criminal mind or books like Caleb Carr's Alienist, In the Shadow of Gotham should be on your TBR list.

After losing his fiancee in the Slocum Ferry disaster, police detective, Simon Ziele, in hopes of fleeing his memories, escapes New York City and relocates several miles north to Dobson, a quiet village. His quiet is soon interrupted with the brutal stabbing and death of Sarah Wingate. Very early on Ziele is contacted...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 03, 2009 LJ rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: female_author, gaslight_edwardian_1901-1914, historical, mystery, new_york_state, new_york_city

First Sentence: The scream that pierced the dull yellow November sky was preternaturally high-pitched.

Simon Ziele left being a policeman in New York City after a personal tragedy and injury. Now in the New York, East River town of Dobson, a young woman has been brutally killed while staying with her aunt. Simon is surprised when noted criminologist, Alistair Sinclair, proclaims he knows the killer. But does he?

I really did want to like this book but there were just too many things wrong with it....more First Sentence: The scream that pierced the dull yellow November sky was preternaturally high-pitched.

Simon Ziele left being a policeman in New York City after a personal tragedy and injury. Now in the New York, East River town of Dobson, a young woman has been brutally killed while staying with her aunt. Simon is surprised when noted criminologist, Alistair Sinclair, proclaims he knows the killer. But does he?

I really did want to like this book but there were just too many things wrong with it. I was attracted by the idea of having a book set in a smaller town at the beginning of the 20th century. However neither the location now the period were used to best advantage. Much of the action takes place in New York City, but even then, a strong sense of place is not provided. As to sense of time, we are told about the technological differences but much of the story feels to modern to me. I was particularly stopped when Ziele buys a cup of coffee on his way to work. Coffee to go in 1905? I don’t know.

The characters, in spite of the author’s best efforts, were flat. We were provided factual information regarding Ziele, but I never made an emotional connection to him. Only in one scene where he is frustrated and somewhat angry did he come alive for me.

The plot was based upon one very large coincidence. Although both the character and the reader know the investigation is off in the wrong direction, it takes much too long for the plot to catch up.

My other major issue is that the author adopted the unfortunate style of end-of-chapter foreshadowing way too many times.

The book was not without redeeming elements. The forensic information, as the United States was just beginning to use fingerprinting and study criminal behavior, was fascinating. There was an interesting perspective of the “I know my …..” disbelief of those close to a criminal believing that person could commit such a crime. Unfortunately, these elements were not enough to save the book for me.

The book did win the Mystery Writers of America, First Crime Novel Award, but I’ve disagreed with award winners before. This is one you’ll have to judge for yourself.

IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM (Hist. Mys-Simon Ziele-NY-1905) – Okay
Pintoff, Stefanie – 1st book
Minotaur Books, 2009, US Hardcover, ISBN: 9780312544904
(less)

9 likes · like · see review

May 18, 2009 Margee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

This is a classic turn-of-the-century procedural. A vicious murder committed in upstate New York causes ripples among the members of an elite criminology task force under the auspices of Columbia University, whose director seeks out Detective Simon Ziele. Ziele had quit the New York police force in favor of a job in a small town north of New York, under tragic circumstances. Appealing characters, terrific suspense, and a real sense of place in 1905 New York make this a great story.

1 like · like · see review

Mar 20, 2012 Nan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, fiction, historical-fiction, key-west-library, read-2012

I sure wish Goodreads allowed half star ratings because this is a 3 1/2 star book, in my personal system, if there ever was one. I started with high hopes, was initially a tad disappointed, but came to like it more by the end. It felt like the author was throwing all her research about turn-of-the-century New York at us at the start, overexplaining the setting in a way that really good historical crime novels do not. But either she relaxed along the way or I did and by the end I was starting to...more

like · see review

Aug 12, 2010 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: aunt-agatha

This book definitely held my attention and I blasted through it. But it was also frustrating at the same time. I thought the killer was obvious from the first introduction, yet it took another 300 pages for the sleuths to figure it out. I was also oddly disappointed that Ziele left his new partner behind to work with obvious suspect (to me, anyway) Alistair.

The book was a bit over-explained, and didn't give the reader to think through some of the details on her own. At one point, a witness comme...more

like · see review

Sep 28, 2010 Talulah Mankiller rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Early 1900s, New York state. Simon Ziele has lost his fiancee and most of the use of one arm to a ferry disaster, his mother to disease, his father to gambling, and his sister to marriage.

I find that last part particularly amusing, because other characters are like, don’t you have any family left? And Ziele is all, naw, everyone’s dead, deserted, or married. Like just because his sister got hitched and left New York City, THEY CAN NEVER WRITE TO EACH OTHER AGAIN.

But I digress.

So Simon’s seriousl...more Early 1900s, New York state. Simon Ziele has lost his fiancee and most of the use of one arm to a ferry disaster, his mother to disease, his father to gambling, and his sister to marriage.

I find that last part particularly amusing, because other characters are like, don’t you have any family left? And Ziele is all, naw, everyone’s dead, deserted, or married. Like just because his sister got hitched and left New York City, THEY CAN NEVER WRITE TO EACH OTHER AGAIN.

But I digress.

So Simon’s seriously emo, with good reason, and he leaves his job as a detective in New York City for one as…a detective. But this time in a small town! Where there are no really gross homicides! Because even though his fiancee died in an accident, not through violent crime, he associates the two! Because I guess that makes sense!

Anyway, it sucks to be Simon, because at the very beginning of the book, a young lady comes to visit her wealthy aunt in Simon’s sleepy little town and winds up getting brutally murdered.

See, Simon, here’s your REAL PROBLEM: you shouldn’t have left NYC for upstate New York. You should have left crime fiction for a Nicholas Sparks novel.

So this girl is dead, and almost immediately a professor from Columbia by the name of Alistair Sinclair shows up at Simon’s door and is all, “Hey–so your murder? Sounds like the work of my pet psychopath. I’ve been studying the way this guy’s brain works for a couple of years, and let me tell you, this murder is exactly like the sick shit I’ve been listening to all this time. PS: did I mention that I let him off the leash two weeks ago and haven’t seen him since?”

So then they decide to work together. Shenanigans ensue.

I had several problems with this book: to begin with, I obviously didn’t buy Simon’s PAIN. It’s not that his feelings are totally implausible–many people simply cannot cope with the death of a loved one and switch careers–but they feel…forced. Simon tells us about everything he feels; we never see any indication that he’s experiencing an emotion. This is mostly due to the writing style, which seems to be Pintoff’s attempt to ape the style of the times. But, um, it doesn’t really work. It makes the characters feel flat, and also? She has Simon say things like, “Little did I know then, but everything was about to abruptly go to shit.” DON’T DO THAT, AUTHORS. IT’S A CRIME NOVEL. DO NOT TELEGRAPH PLOT TWISTS LIKE THAT.

And speaking about telegraphing plot twists: I called the murderer from his introduction. Seriously. The minute he showed up, I was like, “BAM! That guy!” And that’s not the end of the world, but Pintoff never managed to shake my conviction about this character. Never. That’s unacceptable. Personally, I don’t read crime novels to feel smart; I read them to feel really, really stupid. I want to be tricked. I want the author to be two steps ahead of me and mooning me at all times. Pintoff never manages that, which is why I can’t forgive her poor characterization or her dreadful period style.

Recommended for: Only if you are deeply, inexplicably, and forever in love with The Alienist.(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Aug 14, 2011 sage rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, fiction, disability, historical-fiction, mystery, reviewed, gender-politics

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · like · see review

Jul 26, 2010 Kelly Belvis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Having read several mysteries recently, I found this to be a pleasant variation on the theme. This particular mystery is set in 1905 New York. I enjoyed the historical details, the criminolgy and the characters. I don't read mysteries because I enjoy trying to solve the puzzle of the murder, I read mysteries because I want to solve the puzzle of the detective, what is his motivation, is he truly good or is he just the flip side of the criminal coin? In this case the detective was Simon Ziele, a...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 18, 2009 Caitlin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

This is a really good debut novel & it is obvious why it won a "First Crime Novel Award" from the Mystery Writers of America. This book reminded a lot of The Alienist, but also of other books that deal with New York in the same time period; in particular, Banished Children of Eve by Peter Quinn & the classic Low Life by Luc Sante. I was pleased to see that she referenced Sante's work & I went promptly to my bookshelf to put Low Life back on my TBR list.

This book has the feel of its t...more

like · see review

Mar 14, 2012 Emilia rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think the word "lacking" best describes my feelings about this story. It's lacking in characterization, twists, and the the author's ability to edit unnecessary *stuff*.

Characterization: I really couldn't care about any one character. Everyone is horribly boring and one-dimensional. Even the backstories we're given are weak and predictable.

Twists: Maybe because I've read a lot of Deaver, I've become spoiled and expect great twists in detective fiction. I'm usually pretty bad at figuring out w...more

like · see review

Oct 26, 2010 Sandi rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-mystery-thriller-suspense, read-2010, historical-fiction

Not very good at all. This book was nominated for the Anthony Award for best first and won the Edgar in the same category which frankly baffles me. The plotting was simplistic (Whodunit was painfully obvious), characters were thin and wooden, and even the historical details were not interesting. This ranks up there as one of the most boring books I have ever finished.

5 likes · like · see review

Jan 25, 2010 Annalisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, mystery-thriller, cover

The reason it took me so long to get into this story is that Pintoff failed to create a realistic picture of New York in 1905 for me. She did plenty of research and threw in random facts about the era that distracted from the story, but I needed them to remind me that this was indeed historical fiction. Little things like a telephone in every residence with no mention of switchboard operators and a police photographer excessively snapping shots of a crime scene even though cameras were just rece...more The reason it took me so long to get into this story is that Pintoff failed to create a realistic picture of New York in 1905 for me. She did plenty of research and threw in random facts about the era that distracted from the story, but I needed them to remind me that this was indeed historical fiction. Little things like a telephone in every residence with no mention of switchboard operators and a police photographer excessively snapping shots of a crime scene even though cameras were just recently invented didn't capture the newness of inventions we take for granted. I wanted to hear about buying papers from newsies and horse-drawn carriages and shoe shiners on the street and parasols and all that stuff to give it that turn-of-the-century authenticity.

I could have bought the setting if the characters fit the era. Every single one of them, down the old-money elderly matron, was liberal beyond their times with weak references to the "they" of society that they didn't fit into. You had the outspoken for women's suffrage girl getting her masters when it was unusual enough for a woman to get any college education, the criminologist who had such a grasp of psychopaths when the term was only coined a decade before that he was able to provide accurate profiling when criminal profiling didn't take off for half a century later. Even the lawyer seemed to hint at Miranda rights (1960s) and a prostitute was embarrassed to have taken hush money instead of suing when a prostitute in that day would be happy to get any money and would know her chances in court. I had a hard time believing these characters lived in 1905, maybe if they were mixed with more conservative characters, but the whole lot of them I didn't.

I figured out the culprit pretty early on but then doubted myself so I was curious about the mystery. And despite doubting that the characters would have understood psychology and profiling, I still love that stuff so it was fascinating to me. The writing was a little dry and sometimes awkward, which made the story hard to get into, but once the mystery took over the scene setting , it was easier to read and then I could enjoy the story. It was a struggle to get there though.(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Jan 08, 2013 Barbara Storey rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries

I picked up this book - and the sequel to it - just before Christmas because they were remainders and cheap, and the reviews on the covers compared them to Caleb Carr's "The Alienist." And I have to say . . . I really regret buying both of them. Because "In the Shadow of Gotham" is BAD.

The idea - the mystery itself and the plot - are okay, and would have been much more interesting in the hands of a good writer. Sadly, Pintoff is not a good writer. She overwrites extensively - putting information...more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 27, 2010 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I find I enjoy a detective story every now and again, and this book was given to me by a friend at the right time to scratch the itch. Suspend your disbelief, keep the pages turning and enjoy the portrait painted of 1905 New York, which may not entirely resemble actual 1905 New York, but until I come into possession of a time machine, I can't really check for myself.

I am generally the worst plot predicter ever, so it was kind of a surprise that I guessed the culprit from his first introduction....more

like · see review

Nov 02, 2010 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Aug 09, 2010 Jean rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Pretty good first mystery. I guessed the killer, which means it was fairly obvious, since I'm not that good at guessing. I keep reading to see if I was right, so there was a bit of suspense.

Pintoff sets up a nice character in Detective Ziele, working near New York City in the early 1900s. It's also pretty obvious that Pintoff is setting up further stories in which he will work with a young widow.

Lots of interesting details about New York in that era; newspaper accounts of what was going on, det...more

like · see review

Jul 13, 2010 Jann Barber rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Jann by: My library's mystery book club

This is Pintoff's debut crime novel, and I devoured it in two sittings and I've already requested her second book from the library. In "Gotham," we meet Detective Simon Ziele, who has left big-city policing in New York for a quieter job in Dobson, where murders are quite rare.

However, the brutal murder of Sarah Wingate, a mathematics graduate student at Columbia University brings Ziele back to the big city where he encounters Alistair Sinclair, an independently wealthy man who runs a research ce...more

like · see review

Jan 03, 2012 Sherri rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-mystery

A turn of the century brutal crime that brings together the worlds of Sherlock Holmes and Criminal Minds. This novel shows the advent of criminology, new forensics, and hard detective work.

Ziele, a former NYC detective working north of the city after the Slocum ferry disaster, is brought back to the City on the tracks of a killer. He teams up with a professor who is just starting to study criminology.

I liked how it was written from one point of view so there wasn't a lot of story lines to follow...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (8)

More editions...

Genres

Mystery

189 users

Historical Fiction

71 users

Mystery > Crime

29 users

Mystery > Historical Mystery

25 users

Thriller > Mystery Thriller

17 users

Thriller

11 users

Mystery > Detective

8 users

Suspense

8 users

New York

7 users

Literature > American

5 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Aphrodite
by Russell Andrews
Game of Patience
by Susanne Alleyn
Some Danger Involved
by Will Thomas
A Beautiful Place To Die
by Malla Nunn
The Frightened Man
by Kenneth M. Cameron

About Stefanie Pintoff

In 2008, Stefanie Pintoff became the inaugural winner of the St. Martin's Minotaur/Mystery Writers of America Best First Crime Novel competition. Her novel, In the Shadow of Gotham, developed from what she learned about criminology and detective fiction while earning a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a Ph.D. in English Literature from New York University.

A former attorney and teacher, she now wr...more

More about Stefanie Pintoff...

Books by Stefanie Pintoff

Secret of the White Rose (Simon Ziele, #3)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About In the Shadow of ...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: In the Shadow of Gotham
avg rating	preview: In the Shadow of Gotham Goodreads rating: 3.43 (1888 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7001085-in-the-shadow-of-gotham?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316741705l/7001085.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7001085-in-the-shadow-of-gotham?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff[/url]

In the Shadow of Gotham (Simon Ziele #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website