Murder by Definition

October 1, 2022
The acquisition of a once-noted crime writer's papers leads to all kinds of trouble for the New York Public Library, the New York Police Department, and the writer himself. Some writers donate their papers to archives; Will Ford, a has-been with a floridly checkered personal history, wants $100,000 for his. Against all odds, Raymond Ambler, curator of the crime fiction collection, and his sometime allies at the NYPL raise enough money for the material, and that's when the trouble begins. Reading "The Unrepentant Killer," an unpublished story Ford claims to have "based on an actual incident," makes Ray wonder uneasily about the roots of this tale of a corrupt cop who walked away from a bloodbath that left a basement gambler and his prostitute mistress dead. When Ray asks him about the story's source, Ford claims amnesia, and when NYPD Det. Mike Cosgrove, the pal Ray has told about the story, makes the rounds among his own cohort, he's warned to back off. Even so, Ray and Mike soon identify to their satisfaction the cold case Ford had fictionalized. Predictably, the case, involving a crime lord, a brothel, and a crooked cop, comes roaring back to life, leaving both Ford and Mike's ex-partner Lt. Chris Jackson dead and Mike fighting for his life after getting shot in the back. It's a miracle that Ray, already struggling to revisit the conviction of his son for beating a man to death in a brawl and dealing with the unexpected advances of his co-worker and friend Adele Morgan, has any time to devote to the mystery. Luckily, solving it will take more courage and persistence than imagination or brains. A conscientious valentine whose librarians come off a lot better than its cops.

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October 17, 2022
Lehane’s intriguing fourth 42nd Street Library mystery (after 2019’s Murder Off the Page) finds librarian Ray Ambler curating a collection of papers by influential mystery author Will Ford for the New York Public Library’s Crime Fiction Collection. Among Ford’s papers, Ray discovers an unpublished short story about a triple murder over a drug deal. Curious, Ray does some research and finds that Ford’s story is the same in every particular to an actual 1990s-era murder—except for one important detail. In real life, the murderer confessed and went to prison. In Ford’s story, the real killer got away scot-free. Which was true, the story or the newspaper account? Ford’s not talking, so Ray asks his friend, NYPD homicide detective Mike Cosgrove, to look into it. But as soon as Mike starts asking questions, people start dying. When Mike himself becomes a target, the task of finding the real killer becomes personal for Ray. Memorable prose (“Ray stayed in the background pretending he was doing something on his computer—like the guy in the old mystery movies who had his ear pressed against the door and fell into the room when the inspector yanked it open”) helps make up for the dense and increasingly complicated plot. Those with a taste for noir lite will want to check this out. Agent: Alice Martell, Martell Agency.

December 1, 2022

Raymond Ambler, curator of the crime-fiction collection at New York City's 42nd Street Library, puts the library in a difficult position when he wants to purchase five boxes of author Will Ford's personal papers. Ford has a reputation as a drunk and scandalous womanizer. The news of the library's planned purchase brings out women's groups to protest, so the 42nd Street Library is forced to strike their big celebratory event for Ford and replace it with a quiet reception. Despite the trouble he's already caused, Ray can't resist digging into the truth behind one of Ford's unpublished stories that was supposedly based on an actual incident in New York City 30 years earlier, when a corrupt plainclothes cop allegedly murdered two people and got off scot-free. Ford insists that story might get him killed if it surfaces, but Ray decides to investigate the truth behind it with the help of NYPD homicide detective Mike Cosgrove and bartender Brian McNulty. Ford turns out to be right, as the investigation into the cold case leads to two more murders and the attempted murder of one of Ray's friends, leaving him to wonder what compels him to meddle in murder cases. VERDICT Lehane's complex follow-up to Murder Off the Page will interest fans of the bleak series and readers who enjoy cold-case stories.--Lesa Holstine

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December 1, 2022
As a writer of crime fiction, Will Ford was very good, but as a drunk he's spectacular. When the cash-strapped author offers to sell his collection of papers (letters, manuscripts, etc.) to the New York Public Library, Raymond Ambler, the crime-fiction curator at the library's landmark 42nd Street location, is on the fence. How much interest will there be in a once-acclaimed, now disgraced, writer? As it turns out, while perusing the papers, Ambler makes a discovery that could rock the New York Police Department to its core--if he survives long enough to confirm what Ford only hinted at. The fourth in Lehane's 42nd Street Library series is a treat. Aside from its numerous nods to the mystery genre (its protagonist's name is an amalgam of Raymond Chandler and Eric Ambler), the novel rests on a solid, conspiracy-based premise, boasts a tantalizing cast of characters, and takes advantage of the author's amiably laid-back writing style, which draws us in and keeps us firmly glued to the page. Lots of fun.

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