by Caleb Carr
First published 1994
In 1896 New York, a young reporter and an alienist (psychologist) team up with a determined police secretary to investigate the gruesome murder of a teenage boy. Tasked by the unconventional Commissioner Roosevelt, the unlikely trio delve into the city's criminal underworld, using revolutionary psychological profiling to track the killer. Their dangerous quest takes them through the underbelly of Gilded Age Manhattan, from squalid tenements to opulent mansions, as they race to stop the murderer before he strikes again. At its heart, this is the story of three individuals striving to challenge societal beliefs and bring a killer to justice.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, detective, 19th-century
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: New York, New York (N.Y.), New York (State), Nueva York (N.Y.)
Period: 1896
608 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Bantam Books
Content warnings: violence