New York Detective

Tillman and Muldoon #1

by William Marshall

Set in 1883, when the Brooklyn Bridge opens, this swashbuckling tale of crime and sleuthing travesties the old dime-novel thriller with its bravado and jingoist patriotism. At Niblo's Garden Theatre an aging stagehand is slain during a testimonial gun presentation to leading actor Quarternight (who will seek the U.S. presidency) while a holdup is foiled in the swank men's room -- a porcelain folly of dolphins and seashells. City Det. Virgil Tillman and his strongarm sidekick, tippling Patrolman Ned Muldoon, get on the case.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1989

About the author

William Marshall (or William Leonard Marshall) (born 1944, Australia) is an Australian author, best known for his Hong Kong-based "Yellowthread Street" mystery novels, some of which were used as the basis for a British TV series.

Reviews

[🐴 🍖]

wtf reissue this!! (there's this weird, incantatory narrative style that takes a lotta acclimation... it's almost like it handicaps the reader, forcing you to do detective work alongside the detectives to keep up. once one emerges from the hyperbaric chamber, tho, what a ride: the goofy violence [e.g. manhole cover hidden in flower bouquet] / the deadly seriousness re the clandestine misdeeds of the powerful / the meticulous period detail gave this more of a pynchonian flavor than 10,000 things described as such by kirkus. read it read it read it)