The blackest bird : a novel of murder in nineteenth-century New York

"Irresistibly seductive....Murder mystery, historical novel, portal to another time; The Blackest Bird is a masterpiece."—Anthony BourdainIn the sweltering New York City summer of 1841, Mary Rogers, a popular counter girl at a tobacco shop in Manhattan, is found brutally ravaged in the shallows of the Hudson River. John Colt, scion of the firearm fortune, beats his publisher to death with a hatchet. And young Irish gang leader Tommy Coleman is accused of killing his daughter, his wife, and his wife's former lover. Charged with solving it all is High Constable Jacob Hays, the city's first detective. At the end of a long and distinguished career, Hays's investigation will ultimately span a decade, involving gang wars, grave robbers, and clues hidden in poems by the hopeless romantic and minstrel of the night: Edgar Allan Poe.

“irresistibly Seductive. ... Murder Mystery, Historical Novel, Portal To Another Time; the Blackest Bird Is A Masterpiece.”—anthony Bourdain

publishers Weekly

rose (new York Sawed In Half) Takes On One Of The Most Celebrated Unsolved Murders In New York City History The 1841 Killing Of Mary Rogers In This Historical Whodunit, But Doesn't Make The Most Of Its Potential. Rogers, An Attractive Young Woman, Achieved Local Notoriety As A Sales Clerk At A Manhattan Tobacco Shop Whose Clientele Included Such Notable Authors As James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving And Edgar Allan Poe. After The Discovery Of The Victim's Mutilated Body, Jacob Hays, The City's High Constable, Who Makes A Somewhat Plodding And Colorless Detective, Quickly Narrows His Scrutiny To Poe, Whose Second Dupin Story Was Based On The Case. While The Author Provides A Convincing Portrait Of The New York Literary World Of The Day, Crime Fans May Be Disappointed That The Mystery's Solution Comes Out Of Left Field With No Evidence To Support It. This Novel Should Get A Lift From Daniel Stashower's Recent Factual Study Of The Rogers Murder, the Beautiful Cigar Girl. (mar.)

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Sixty-nine-year-old High Constable Jacob Hays is facing a long, hot summer in 1841. The soaring temperatures are nothing compared to the heat being generated by the sensation-seeking newspapers and the vicious gangs that rule the New York neighborhoods known as the Five Points. When Mary Rogers, a pretty clerk at a tobacco shop, is found brutally murdered in the Hudson River, Hays is charged with the search for her killer. A long-respected lawman known for creating a new interrogation technique called the third degree, Hays is starting to feel the full weight of his position, caught between public outrage and political red tape. High on his list of suspects is the eccentric poet Edgar Allan Poe, who freely admits that he was in love with the "cigar girl." Rose (New York Sawed in Half, 2001) creates a compelling portrait of nineteenth-century New York as well as fascinating, deeply flawed characters. At the center of his novel is the dissolute Poe, dressed in a tattered coat, heavily addicted to opium, and convinced of his own genius. Part history, part mystery, and thoroughly entertaining.--Amazon "Irresistibly seductive. Murder mystery, historical novel, portal to another time; The Blackest Bird is a masterpiece." Anthony Bourdain In the sweltering New York City summer of 1841, Mary Rogers, a popular counter girl at a tobacco shop in Manhattan, is found brutally ravaged in the shallows of the Hudson River. John Colt, scion of the firearm fortune, beats his publisher to death with a hatchet. And young Irish gang leader Tommy Coleman is accused of killing his daughter, his wife, and his wife's former lover. Charged with solving it all is High Constable Jacob Hays, the city's first detective. At the end of a long and distinguished career, Hays's investigation will ultimately span a decade, involving gang wars, grave robbers, and clues hidden in poems by the hopeless romantic and minstrel of the night: Edgar Allan Poe. Sweltering New York City, summer of 1841, the beautiful ‘Segar Girl' Mary Rogers is brutally murdered. Popular amongst the journalistic and publishing elite, the task of finding her killer falls to High Constable Jacob Hays. At the end of a long and distinguished career Old Hays's investigation will ultimately span a decade, involving gang wars, grave robbing, and clues hidden in the poems of the hopeless romantic and minstrel of the night, Edgar Allan Poe. Superbly researched and compellingly readable, The Blackest Bird is both a richly textured and atmospheric portrait of the birth of New York, a city raging with bloodshed and duplicity, and a thrilling murder mystery. During the summer of 1841, High Constable Jacob Hays, New York City's first detective, finds himself investigating a series of brutal crimes, including the rape and murder of Mary Rogers, a young clerk at a Manhattan tobacco shop