Epitaph

May 21, 2001
Sometimes it's pleasant to read a tale that unfolds slowly and methodically like the layers of an onion. This first novel is such a story. Retired detective and senior citizen William (never Bill, Billy or Willy) Riskin, a New Yorker through and through, used to work for an investigative agency, the Three Eyes, whose clients were either from the city or had settled in south Florida. The problem at hand is that some people who left their longtime New York abodes for Florida never arrived there. Where are they, and what happened to them? Jean Goldblum, deceased, one of William's former partners in the Three Eyes agency, had been working on the "biggest case of his life," and now William must come out of retirement to try to pick up the pieces. William only has Jean's list of names of the missing people to work with. "Follow the list, William, it's all you have," our hero says to himself. As the layers are stripped bit by bit, and oh, so slowly, we learn that this case has roots in the past, when Nazi Germany controlled much of Europe. Jean had always been known as an underground hero from World War II; could it be that his reputation is undeserved? As William moves from clue to clue, he uncovers more than one startling secret. In a denouement as frightening as a medieval torture chamber, William fights for his life. Is this Williams's last case, or will he return in another adventure? Either way, readers will be satisfied. (June 5)FYI:The author is a senior advertising executive whose work has won many industry awards. He also wrote the Emmy-winning NBC "Make You Know" public service campaign.

June 15, 2001
Retired P.I.William Riskin spends his golden years sweeping out a Queens Offtrack Betting Office and waiting to die when he spots the newspaper obituary of his old partner, Jean Goldblum, a hardened concentration camp survivor and war hero. Although he has mixed feelings about Jean, who brutally exposed his wife's infidelity and destroyed his marriage, William pays his respects at the funeral and learns that Jean was working on the most important case of his life at the time of his death. Investigating a list of names that Jean left for safekeeping with a neighbor, William follows a trail of missing retirees who supposedly moved to Florida but never arrived there. In turn, this leads him to horrifying crimes committed 60 years earlier in occupied France. This first novel by the creative director of a New York ad agency skillfully combines a compelling crime story with clearly drawn characters (most over the age of 70) and wry, tart insights about the indignities and humiliations of growing old ("William the Conquerer was going back into mothballs. William the Meek was now taking calls."). For all mystery collections. Wilda Williams, "Library Journal"

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2001
William Riskin, a retired private detective who is pushing 80 and leading a quiet life in Queens, sees a familiar name in the obituary column--a former business partner and not-quite friend. He attends his funeral on a whim, but as the only mourner present, he is entrusted with the dead man's belongings--among them an unfinished case file. Curiosity (or is it competition?) reawakens William's long-dormant detective instincts, and he takes over the case, following a trail of memories and missing persons to Miami. His need to resolve past conflicts propels him headlong into dangerous secrets dating back to World War II; William is not as spry as he used to be, but he gets by with a little help from his elderly friends. The shocking and graphic climax seems out of step with the rest of the book, but the sharp, fluid, often snidely funny writing and the well-paced plot make this first mystery a satisfying debut. One hopes William will hang on long enough to solve a few more cases.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)