Black & White & Dead All Over

by John Darnton

A cutthroat newspaper editor is found stabbed in his office with the paper spike he used to kill stories. Who killed him?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Journalism, Audiobook, Novels, Adult

351 pages, Paperback

First published July 29, 2008

About the author

John Darnton has worked for The New York Times for forty years as a reporter, editor, and foreign correspondent. He is the recipient of two George Polk Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. He is also the author of five novels, including The Darwin Conspiracy and the best seller Neanderthal. He lives in New York.

Reviews

[Jan C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this an enjoyable read. Murder in the press. There is a lot here to attract those interested in newspapers. I have read Ben Hecht's A Thousand and One Afternoons in Chicago about doing a column a day and John J. McPhaul's Deadlines and Monkeyshines: The Fabled World of Chicago Journalism. Aside from the murder story, this really reminded me of both of these books, especially the latter. This book is full of reporter stories, some of them are even true per the afterword.

There are two mysteries here - who is the killer and who is the heir apparent. I got one but not the other.

[Cara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was very painful to read, from beginning to end. There was nothing cohesive about the story line, there were more characters than the author knew what to do with, most of them with very far-fetched names, and only a few were developed enough to be believable. I found it very distracting to try to keep up with all the characters, sometimes having to look back to see who was who. I guess on a positive note, it was somewhat educational on the print media, although even that was confusing at times. I am so glad to be done with it so I can move on to something else.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darnton returns with another great novel, this time using his experience as a journalist to weave a sensational murder mystery, layered with the life of a newspaper. The reader is taken to the depths of the world of print journalism, including its cut-throat competition among reporters, and faced with solving a horrific murder at the same time. A move away from Darnton's traditional scientific analysis, but well worth the literary shift. The reader can push through the murder investigation and also get their feet wet in a world that Darnton lived (lives:?) for the past 40 years. With a great cast of characters, great development and dialogue that does not disappoint, Darnton may have penned his best novel to date, and certainly his most action-packed.

I have always admired Darnton for what he writes and the detail he uses to draw the reader in. When first I read NEANDERTHAL, I was sure that he was an anthropologist. His subsequent novels presented great attention to detail surrounding organ procurement, neurological advancements, and evolutionary theory (painting Charles Darwin as mortal and not god of the theory). It was only when I read this novel that I felt I need not query if Darnton were really not presented but a single side of the story; Darnton has lived the life and presents it has hairy, twisted,and probably full of drama. Well worth the read, for the insight, if not only for the entertainment value.

Kudos Mr. Darnton. Do return soon with more to read. I await with anticipation.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh. Started out sort of interesting, but I think the author was having so much fun creating fictional counterparts to the actual NYT times employees, making up clever names for them, and satirizing the decline of print journalism, he forgot how to write a coherent mystery. Too many supporting characters, few of them well-developed, and some of them reappeared so late in the story that I had no idea who they were. I felt as if I should have taken notes.

And the thing that bothered me the most is how sexist the characters were -- all the female reporters are sluts or bitches, or both, the murder victim's assistant is a dried up old spinster, the protagonist's estranged girlfriend is a shrew. . . the only remotely likeable female character was the detective assigned to the case, because she's the love interest for our intrepid reporter, who actually solves the case. Because, obviously, women aren't smart enough to do that. Annoying. I give it 1 1/2 stars.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just a lot of fun! It reminded me of two classic movies, The Abominable Dr Phibes and Who's Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? The author may (or may not) take that as a compliment to his work.

The mystery was well crafted with great characters and a wonderful setting. (One of my only disappointments was that I had no personal experience of a newspaper to make it even more enjoyable.) The quoted headlines, the descriptions of the different characters, and lightly veiled references to real characters all made it a great read.

[Mommalibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

very witty - I am just getting started
Well the wit became scarcer and there was a lot of repetition of the clues and possibilities. If you knew nothing about the internal life of newspapers you would pick up some interesting words and word pictures. Not a waste of time but it would make me look for another book by the author.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Newspapers are dirty business, and not just from the ink. Revenge runs deep, mysteries abound, and this fictitious newspaper has more than its share of people turning up dead. An intrepid reporter, a determined detective, and a few crusty newspaper men will help figure out who killed the editor, and his lover/the gossip columnist, and the food editor ... and a few more potential victims.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 aburridísimo, un caos de personajes

[Jennifer Gottschalk · Rating 1 out of 5]

After a promising start this murder mystery rapidly devolved into a tedious chore.

The writing was dense, the plot was impenetrable and the characters were, for the most part uni-dimensional.

Normally I don't mind whodunit stories but 'Black and White and Dead All Over' fell short of my expectations. There were too many suspects, not enough clues and when the perpetrator was finally revealed, it was a massive disappointment.

The best thing about this book was finally getting to the end. I regret taking the time to finish reading it.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think it was a pretty definitive sign that this mystery novel might be lacking something when I got to the point where they revealed the killer and I had to stop reading to remeber who that character was.

What could have been a very good book was overburdened with way too many underdeveloped characters and a plot that took up over a third of the book that ended up having basically nothing to do with the ending.

This was a decently written book with a very disapointing ending.

[Bettie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unabridged and read by Phil Gigante.

I gave this 10 minutes and knew, right there, that this is not for me at this time.

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

A whodunit featuring a newspaper in steep decline due to the internet and shrinking ad revenues. Sound familiar Strib? Murders are committed it’s hard to care much about the characters... Perhaps if you work for a newspaper the story might sound better. 3 of 10 stars

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish because life's too short.

[Delores Alger · Rating 1 out of 5]

didn't finish

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking for an easy and enjoyable read after suffering through Cervantes and came across this mystery. Unfortunately, this is the only mystery this author's written that I'm interested in reading. At first, I really liked the book and was stumped as to who the killer was. Then the story took a strange turn with the characters going to this retreat put on by the company heads at the newspaper. It seemed really weird, but as I worked my way through it I could see that part of the book was "the middle" as they say in the mystery writing world. It was really weird to see these sections of the book laid out to me, and so clearly defined to me. I've never noticed that in any other mystery story I've read. It did make me happy that the heir to the newspaper ownership didn't turn out to be the killer as that's how I thought it would end. This book did make me want to write more or at least reading the beginning part of it did. I ended up just writing some of my genealogy and not any fiction work.

[Cathie Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyable read. Gave it a four rating because I thought the plot was excellent. Lots of twists and turns. The only reason why I would rate it lower is due to all the characters. However, based on the theme of the news room, there would be a lot of characters involved. Easy read. If you like a lot of description, this book is for you. Since most people don't remember what a newsroom was like, the descriptions are quite helpful, but it makes for a slow read.

[Carole Barkley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sort of interesting plot and a look at the state of current journalism… but the author's penchant for cutesy names for his characters gets old. e.g., "Dumpster" is a reporter for a tabloid. "Outsalot" is a restaurant critic. Gets old fast.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this mad dash through the plant and offices of a major newspaper, and the murders of people by myriad means. Distracting for me, though, were the bizarre and amusing names Darnton gave his characters. There's even a pseudo Rupert Murdoch sleazy media magnate.

[Erinn Dimond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, but not thrilling. Interesting because it feels totally authentic to newspaper reporter life. Not so thrilling as a crime drama. So if you’re looking for adrenaline, this ain’t it. But if you’re looking for a brain exercise you can sink your teeth into, this will do it!

[Kirsten Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the walk down memory lane of the newspaper business.

[Jessica Ruggiero · Rating 2 out of 5]

So many characters to follow which made it hard to read. The ending of the book did make it better though

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the hell out of this book. I really don't know how to write a decent review seeing as I just marathon'd through the last 175+ pages in one sitting, but I'll try.

First and foremost, this book was pretty much the antithesis to "Ammunition" in that there were dozens of characters, but almost all of them were fully fleshed out and felt unique. In fact, every chapter seemed to introduce a least a little backstory to a new or unnoticed character. Some of the last names seemed a little bit...corny (Slimowitz? McAdoo?), but that's hardly a knock against the book. I will admit that I sometimes forgot who was who in the rush, but I never dropped the important characters.

This is also is the best mystery I've read so far this summer. Like many mysteries these days, it's not truly imperative to solve until at least a second (or more) body shows up. I don't think that's really a spoiler as again, that's kind of a standard trope. I feel that unless it's actually a private detective, there is almost always a second murder, to raise the stakes and begin establishing a motive. (As again, apart from P.I. novels, I feel more mysteries these days tend to follow serial killers, or at the very least, murderers killing with an actual goal. No one wants to read about a sociopath, well, that's not true, but I don't. I need method to the madness.)

There are plenty of twists and turns, which I realize is cliche to say, but it's absolutely true. The number of dead-end leads mirror the same problems that the main characters, Jude Hurley (the reporter) and Priscilla Bollingsworth (the detective), struggle with.

My only one gripe, if you can even call it that, is that the author, John Darnton, purposefully would leave chapters dangling, or specifically two chapters. Perhaps I was just reading too much into things, but I thought a character was killed after hearing a noise because he/she wasn't mentioned AT ALL for the next fifty pages. I considered that the character was abducted or killed covertly, but no, the character was just not mentioned. I thought that a bit annoying, similarly, a scene ends in a place that is described in great detail as possibly being a death trap with people inside...and then the chapter jumps points of view. I had to wait another thirty or so pages to find out if the people left the room casually or not. I guess that's a way to hook the reader, but it felt rather dishonest to me. I prefer cliffhangers where you either immediately turn the page to keep reading, or at most, you wait a chapter or two for the other characters to follow up on what you just learned. (Or something revealed at the end in the wrap-up, of course). I just didn't care for jumping points of view when I thought something important was going on.

Then again, maybe that was just me misinterpreting the importance of those scenes.

But that's really nitpicky. So bottom line: Good characters, well-paced, enjoyable to read, satisfying conclusion, all in all, the best mystery I've read in a long time. I highly recommend it.

[L.A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with all newspapers these days readership, advertising and circulation are becoming a thing of the past. However you really know trouble is in the works when the body of a top Editor for the New York Globe is found murdered in the very newsroom where he works. And not just any murder, he is killed with a spike to the chest, in fact the very same spike he has used from the beginning to kill the hopes and dreams of other journalists by killing their story. The paper assigns one of their own, Jude Hurley a very cynical reporter who is not sure what he has gotten himself into. He has to form a bond with the NYPD detective assigned to the case, a very young and ambitious Priscilla Bollingsworth.

The problem is that there are an abundance of suspects. As Jude follows his instincts he finds there is much dirt under the respectability of the paper and its Old guard. While he has built a loose rapport with Detective Bollingsworth, Jude finds himself in some very serious and deep problems. Jude finds himself as one of the suspects and he has to come up with an plan to force the killer from hiding. Is it the secretary, the gossip columnist or even one of the journalists that he deals with every day? As bodies start piling up all killed in strange and unusual ways, Jude finds that his questions have put him in the sites of the killer.

Will Jude win the day and turn in one of the best stories ever told or will he be the next death, tune in to find out who is responsible for this ever growing list of dead, the Who's Who of the New York Globe.

I had trouble following the story, the characters did not have the depth that you sometimes see. I thought we would see more interplay between Jude and Priscilla which did not occur. There were some pretty good scenes with Jude and some of his friends and when he is in danger the descriptions were all too real. The killer used interesting ways to do away with his victims, I would guess Karma would come into play. Not one of my favorites but still a good read.

[Julie Failla Earhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a writer, there are many times I have wanted to kill my editor. And as an editor, I’m sure my staff had wanted to put a spike through my heart as well. Every writer’s fantasy comes true when John Darnton opens his new novel, Black & White & Dead All Over, with the killing of Theodore S. Ratnoff, the New York Globe’s “much feared assistant managing editor.”
Ratnoff is found by his administrative assistant with an editor’s spike stuck deep into his chest with a brief note penned in purple ink. Was the spike the same one Ratnoff used to kill stories? Purple ink was Ratnoff’s signature color. The note, “Nice. Who?”, was Ratnoff’s signature compliment to whoever wrote a great headline or turned a nice phrase.
The Globe’s reporters---of whom there are many---don’t know whether to be glad to sad. Ultimately, they seem to vacillate between the two emotions. A young female detective is assigned the case and a young male reporter is assigned to cover the story for the Globe.
The detective and the reporter, both with assignments of lifetimes have little if anything to go. The pace moves slowly but steadily. The police are sure that the murder is an inside job until other members of the newspaper’s staff starts turning up dead in a number of gruesome manners.
I got a little confused with all the characters; a list of characters would have been nice. There are so still so many reporters that the crowded newsroom gave the story a 1950s feel, which worked well in my opinion. Or maybe I only miss the hustle and bustle of deadline.
Darnton is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author for The New York Times with more than forty years of experience. The blend of the old and the new (Internet, Web columns, etc) made Black & White & Dead All Over an enjoyable read for this old hack.

[Paul Pessolano · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well known editor the the New York Globe is murdered just outside of his office. It looks as if he has been killed by a "spike" that is used to kill stories. The editor is known for his "spiking" many stories and has earned him the wrath of many of the Globe reporters.

Priscilla Bollingsworth, the detective assigned to this case, finds that she has too many suspects to choose from and must find some way of narrowing down the numbers.



The Globe assigns reporter Jude Hurley to cover the murder and police investigation. Hurley soon teams up with Priscilla and they both try and work together to solve the mystery.

There are several other murders in the Globe building that seem related to the editor's death. One person is poisoned on a food show, and another is wrapped up in wire, like a mummy, with a newspaper binding machine.

The problem becomes more complicated by the inept publisher of the newspaper and the fact that the newspaper is in deep financial trouble.

The author brings out some very interesting facts concerning the newspaper industry, especially when he uses some of the jargon that is strictly used in the industry. He also, and I have to believe tht this was done by design, uses names for his characters that have something to do with them or their role in the book.

The story is a little different than most mysteries that are being published today. The story does not have the gun battles and car chases that we are used to. The author really wants you to think this thing through and see if you can figure it out.

A very good read with some memorable characters, and quite different in that in takes place within the world of journalism.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this author's earlier The Darwin Conspiracy (though not so much his first novel, Neanderthal), so pounced on this when I came across it. A series of murders in the building of the New York Globe (i.e., the New York Times, where Darnton has for a long time been an illustrious fixture) shocks all the journos and indeed the nation. The tale is full of roman a clef elements -- no prizes for guessing who's the prototype for Antipodean media mogul Lester Moloch, for example -- but that's just icing on what proves, after a sticky first 50 or so pages, to be a very delectable cake. Those early pages are annoying because Darnton opts for a cheap way of trying to keep our attention -- repeating wacky urban-legend-style journo tales. Because the tales actually are funny/bizarre/whatever, this first part of the book isn't boring: it's just that I got fed up by the fact that as good a writer as Darnton can be was so lacking in confidence as to be resorting to this tactic. The early part of the book is, too, marred by P.D. James-esque orotundity.

That hurdle over, the book got better and better. I laughed out loud quite a few times (as when the Globe boss, a man with a rare talent for mauling quotes, came out with "The only thing we have to worry about is worry itself", p198); meanwhile, I was turning the pages avidly to find out what was going to happen next. Great stuff.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

My husband and i used to wonder why his editors at the new york times were always so mean and crabby. After reading this who-dunnit, we understand. This book is a murder mystery, ostensibly, but it's really a very detailed portrait of daily life at the world's most prestigious newspaper — which is losing more and more prestige and readership by the minute.It shows the incredible big dog eating little dog daily life there, the fear and loathing of the newsroom. But it also describes in an inspiring way the thrill of actually covering real news; part of the problem with the Times, Darnton seems to be saying, is that everyone there is so caught up in nitpicking and petty bullshit that they have lost the connection with actual newsgathering and the needs and interests of the reader. It has a rousing end, as the reporters reaffirm their love for newsgathering (and oh yeah they figure out who was murdering all the top newsroom editors).
If you have any interest in journalism, this is a great book. It's also very funny, with lots of subtle funny lines and observations.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bad news is brewing in the inner sanctum of the New York Globe, the city’s long-standing newspaper of note. Readership, advertising, and circulation are plummeting—along with the paper’s vaunted standards—and the cost cutters have their knives out. Then a powerful editor is found murdered in the newsroom, with the spike that he’d wielded to kill stories hammered into his chest. The problem for Priscilla Bollingsworth, the young, ambitious female NYPD detective assigned to the case is that there are too many suspects to choose from.

She teams up with Jude Hurley, a clever, rebellious reporter, and together they navigate the ink-infested waters whose denizens include the paper’s resentful old guard, scheming careerists, a bumbling publisher, a steely executive editor, and a rival newspaper tycoon named Lester Moloch. But the waters thicken considerably when more bodies turn up, dead all over.

This was pretty good. The inside-a-newspaper setting was an interesting background. The wacky characters gave the gruesome murders a little light-heartedness.

[Bookmarks Magazine]

Reviewers for the nation's major newspapers clearly loved this comic romp through their own stomping grounds. Anyone in the habit of reading the New York Times will have no trouble recognizing a few of the book's characters, and reporters and editors will probably share a great deal of the author's gallows humor. After all, Darnton did spend 40 years as a reporter, editor, and foreign correspondent for the New York Times, and Black & White is a tribute to an earlier era of reporting. A few critics cited some clunky dialogue and flat characters; others mentioned that only journalists will fully understand the satire and "heart" of the book, and the humor typical of the newsroom. Most, however, described the novel as a highly successful media satire and a page-turning tale of intrigue.

This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. You will enjoy this fast-paced thriller too, moreso if you’ve worked in a newsroom, and especially if you remember copyboys, composing rooms, and clipping morgues (which I do, though I was a pup). The reporter is the hero (naturally) in this plot, which revolves around a newspaper that is an obvious send-up of the New York Times. (The author is a veteran Times correspondent.) Darnton knows how to both keep things moving and drop in key clues for the alert reader. The action is also flecked with classic gallows humor, including one of the all-time classic reporter-and-editor jokes, which I won’t spoil here. The only off-note: the ludicrous character names, which are probably meant to evoke and parody classic Times personalities (i.e., “Max Schwartzbaum” = Abe Rosenthal, “Elisha Hagenbuckle” = Arthur Sulzberger, I guess …, etc. ), but only grate on the reader after awhile. Still, if you don't expect too much, this book is a hoot.