"strong dual historical police procedural"
In 1945 Manhattan, homicide detectives Jimmy Finn and Jake
Downing investigate the death of Judge Wallace Reed. The
most likely murder weapon, a heavy gavel with blood on it,
was found near the corpse. Meanwhile City Democratic boss
Manny Troy orders Downing to guard the victim's wife
Cynthia, who the cop badly desires. In 1975, Downing watches his wife Mary interred in a
Brooklyn cemetery. He guiltily thinks back thirty years to
the affair with Cynthia while Mary gave birth alone to
their daughter. Knowing he cannot make up for what he did
to Mary, Downing feels he can somewhat rectify his other
blunder of helping the state execute an innocent man for
murder of the judge. He persuades Finn to join him in
reinvestigating the case since improved technology will
help, but the brass tells them as they were warned three
decades ago to leave it alone or else. This is a pure police procedural as William Heffernan
provides two investigations into the same murder separated
by only time. The story line with its two interrelated
subplots is cleverly designed so that the audience sees the
changes in people and even more the differences in how
investigations are conducted. The depressing key cast
members all emit negative vibes so that the audience never
roots for anyone. Sub-genre fans will appreciate A TIME
GONE BY as a powerful comparative duality that entertains
the reader. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted July 29, 2003
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