31 BOND STREET

Based on a true-crime story from mid-nineteenth century New York, this novel has some fascinating characters: Oakley Hall, the corrupt Tweed Ring district attorney who prosecutes Emma Cunningham for the savage murder of her landlord and possible fiancé, Dr. Burdell (the victim and the accused both pretty nasty pieces of work), and the crusading defense lawyer who gets Emma off (but is never quite sure she is innocent). The plotting is tight and compelling, and there are wonderful period details. But the writing is wooden, and Adam Grupper’s narration, while not bad, is sometime sloppy (“jewlerry” for “jewelry”), his dialogue unconvincing. Not quite a whodunit nor yet a courtroom thriller, this is still an absorbing picture of life and death in old New York. B.G. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2010]