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Troy Soos is another on my "why isn't this author better known?" list. This list includes stalwarts like Stephen Greenleaf, Loren Estleman and Stuart Kaminsky, guys who not only write good mysteries but at times also write Great Stuff. Not that they're unknown but when folks are out there clamoring for good writing, stories that work, well, why aren't they trying some of these talented writers? Soos is a physicist by training; his first series of Mickey Rawlings books featured historic mysteries using baseball as a setting. Good stuff, including one that I thought really remarkable in its study of racism in baseball (and in America) HANGING CURVE. It was unpreachy, realistic and awfully interesting. Soos' new books look at the New York scene in the last years of the 19th century. They feel right, they tell about high society and low, about politics and society and the lives of cops and everyday people and again, do it in a way that the author's research is always there, but not intrusive. And he tells a good story. And the characters are compelling. So, huh? Why aren't more people reading them? It's not like we have an overwhelming number of books to read. Okay, okay, some of you do. Hmph. In BURNING BRIDGES, it's a very interesting time; there's a move to incorporate Brooklyn into New York City and tempers are flaring on both sides. It's a battle I know little about but find intriguing. Tammany is fading away, or at least some of the worst crooks are getting their come-uppance and crusading writer Marshall Webb wants something new to write about; his boss just wants updates so that Harper's can crow about how they took down the big machine. And then one of the strongest voices for an independent Brooklyn is shot down, right in front of Webb. Marshall's friend, the upper class but civic-minded and caring Rebecca, runs a shelter and home for women off the streets; in her circle, such things aren't done, but her sister has steered her friend Lucy to the house in cases of emergency. and late one night, this snobby, arrogant but messed-up young lady appears. She's cleaned up, sent on her way and then a short time later, disappears all together. Soos writes movingly and well; he reminds us that the great tragedies and traumas of the Civil War did not end with the surrender -- people suffered on all sides, and the portrait of a surviving soldier reminds us of the relative primitiveness of war and medicine in that time. It's a side issue, but skilfully incorporated and it serves to remind the reader that life in these times was so different, that city life and rural life were so varied. It's history as I've always liked reading it; made real and understandable. Whether you live in one of the boroughs, or you've never been to New York City and don't really want to visit, this is a book worth reading. You'll learn something, sure, but you'll spend an enjoyable few hours doing so wrapped up in a tale of interesting people and fascinating history.
Reviewed by Andi Shechter, December 2004
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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