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Bill Donovan #1
Night Rituals
Bill Donovan, head of the West Side Major Crimes Unit, and Marcie Barnes, a Black undercover detective, investigate the brutal and bizarre murder of three young women in Riverside Park
216 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1980
About the author
Michael Jahn
67 books13 followersI'm a reporter, photographer, and professional novelist. A newspaperman's son, I began my daily newspaper career at The New York Times, where I was hired in 1968 to cover the music beat (folk, blues, and rock), making me the first full-time rock journalist for major media.
That made me well-enough known (or notorious, maybe) so that a few years on I switched to writing fiction, mostly detective novels, and have published 50 books, one of which won the prestigious Edgar Award.
In reviewing "Night Rituals" (1982), the New Yorker wrote that "Jahn writes with a flourish that is entirely his own." And they didn't say "and he can keep it too" so I've been using that quote ever since.
Right now (2012) I'm publishing Kindle editions of my critically acclaimed Bill Donovan Mysteries, which I published from 1982 to 2008. Up so far: "Murder in Coney Island," "Murder in Central Park," "Murder on Theatre Row," "Murder on the Waterfront," and "Murder at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine" (originally published as "City of God"). My Edgar winner, "The Quark Maneuver," also is up in Kindle.
I've begun writing a memoir, not so much of me but of my very unusual ancestors, who had this Forest Gumpian ability to find themselves standing next to fame or infamy. An ancestor on the Spanish side, a sailor, went to Japan with Perry, fought in the Civil War under Farragut (and, I like to think, was the man the Admiral was thinking about when he hollered "Damn the torpedoes ... full speed ahead!"), and later helped rescue a man-eating meteorologist who was frozen in the Arctic ice. My newspaperman dad survived a car chase with Dutch Schultz and drank bourbon on a transcontinental train with Harry Truman.
I'll write about all this stuff. Wouldn't you? The working title is "Told to Me by a Sailor who Died (I'll Never Know if the Bastard Lied)."
I live in New York City.
That made me well-enough known (or notorious, maybe) so that a few years on I switched to writing fiction, mostly detective novels, and have published 50 books, one of which won the prestigious Edgar Award.
In reviewing "Night Rituals" (1982), the New Yorker wrote that "Jahn writes with a flourish that is entirely his own." And they didn't say "and he can keep it too" so I've been using that quote ever since.
Right now (2012) I'm publishing Kindle editions of my critically acclaimed Bill Donovan Mysteries, which I published from 1982 to 2008. Up so far: "Murder in Coney Island," "Murder in Central Park," "Murder on Theatre Row," "Murder on the Waterfront," and "Murder at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine" (originally published as "City of God"). My Edgar winner, "The Quark Maneuver," also is up in Kindle.
I've begun writing a memoir, not so much of me but of my very unusual ancestors, who had this Forest Gumpian ability to find themselves standing next to fame or infamy. An ancestor on the Spanish side, a sailor, went to Japan with Perry, fought in the Civil War under Farragut (and, I like to think, was the man the Admiral was thinking about when he hollered "Damn the torpedoes ... full speed ahead!"), and later helped rescue a man-eating meteorologist who was frozen in the Arctic ice. My newspaperman dad survived a car chase with Dutch Schultz and drank bourbon on a transcontinental train with Harry Truman.
I'll write about all this stuff. Wouldn't you? The working title is "Told to Me by a Sailor who Died (I'll Never Know if the Bastard Lied)."
I live in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 30, 2023
Jahn obviously went for a niche market here with Night Rituals but it has not aged terribly well. Essentially a police procedural, our main protagonist is one Donovan, who leads a special task force on the West Side of NYC tasked to root out 'major' crimes. At first we follow Donovan around; he hangs out at a local pub/dive full of interesting characters which I am sure tickled the NYC intelligentsia for whom this novel was aimed at. Donovan lives in a huge rent controlled apartment that has been in his family for at least a few generations.
Alongside this, we have our first major crime in the area-- a young girl on her way home by Riverside park gets snatched and is found dead seemingly by some bizarre ritual killing. At first, Donovan suspects Haitians or something, but no joy in that. So, we have Donovan track down a number of leads until he finally figures it out...
Night Rituals moves along at a decent pace, with lots of references to NYC establishments. What makes this feel rather dated concerns the humor which also propels the storyline; much of it is racist (Donovan calls his black partner Pancho because he hates spics for example) and lots of digs at Cubans and 'Ricans. Oddly enough, Donovan falls for one Cuban lady (a bartender at his local pub) and his last major steady was a 'high yellow' female cop. These racist references got a little old pretty quick. Given this was first published in the early 80s, you can choose to take this with a grain of salt or not. Pretty fair mystery all in all for such a short book, but I doubt I will read more work by this author. 2.5 stars, rounding up for GR.
Alongside this, we have our first major crime in the area-- a young girl on her way home by Riverside park gets snatched and is found dead seemingly by some bizarre ritual killing. At first, Donovan suspects Haitians or something, but no joy in that. So, we have Donovan track down a number of leads until he finally figures it out...
Night Rituals moves along at a decent pace, with lots of references to NYC establishments. What makes this feel rather dated concerns the humor which also propels the storyline; much of it is racist (Donovan calls his black partner Pancho because he hates spics for example) and lots of digs at Cubans and 'Ricans. Oddly enough, Donovan falls for one Cuban lady (a bartender at his local pub) and his last major steady was a 'high yellow' female cop. These racist references got a little old pretty quick. Given this was first published in the early 80s, you can choose to take this with a grain of salt or not. Pretty fair mystery all in all for such a short book, but I doubt I will read more work by this author. 2.5 stars, rounding up for GR.
June 20, 2013
Three young Cuban women are murdered in Riverside Park. NYPD detective Bill Donovan sets up a trap in the park using Marcie Barnes, his former lover. Donovan suspects that the killer may be one of the regulars at Riley's Saloon, where he and his buddies hang out. It is also where Rosie, Donovan's new girlfriend, tends bar.
For readers who like a police procedural with a Big Apple flavor.
For readers who like a police procedural with a Big Apple flavor.
May 4, 2015
An old book (c1982) but I was hooked from the first sentence. Not deep, but well written.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews