Night Rituals

Bill Donovan #1

by Mike Jahn

One after another in dimly lit Riverside Park, three young women are brutally murdered. Palm fronds bind their wrists, and halos of corn kernels frame their heads. Blood has been taken from their bodies; no blood is on the ground. Who killed them? Before long, Bill Donovan, commander of the West Side Major Crimes Unit, has reason to suspect the habitués of Riley's Saloon, the Broadway tavern where he and his drinking buddies hang out. Especially since the third victim is the sister of Donovan's new girlfriend, Rosie, the night bartender at Riley's. Gradually Donovan realizes that the bizarre killing spree is directed at him. Enlisting the aid of Marcie Barnes, a glamorous black undercover police detective who is also his on-again, off-again lover, Donovan sets a trap. Marcie, suited up, will jog in the park alone and draw the killer out. But Donovan has begun to lose his cool....Their collaboration nearly kills them both, and drags them through a maze of clues pointing to Manhattan street people, American Indians, Haitian refugees, and a murderer who lurks at nightfall, stealing forward now and again to claim a life. Here's a big-city thriller, a cinematic read that's scary and enticing.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Phil]

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.

[Chi Dubinski]

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.

[Jane Rutherford]

An old book (c1982) but I was hooked from the first sentence. Not deep, but well written.