Murder on Theater Row: A Bill Donovan Mystery

by Michael Jahn

Book Overview

Murder On Theatre Row by Michael Jahn released on Mar 24, 2000 is available now for purchase. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031214685X
• ISBN13: 9780312146856
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

A good modern police procedural!

This is the first Jahn mystery I've read and it's a good one. Capt. Bill Donovan of the NYPD specializes in exotic crimes and zeros in on a murder committed with an old crossbow in a theater that is being renovated for a new musical to open New Year's eve. There are connected crimes having to do with real estate machinations. There's a ghost story, spooky cellars under the theater, colorful characters, such as a NY Times critic who specializes in rock 'n roll and who has a major drinking problem, a black jazz musician doing a stint as an actor, the old agent of a long dead vaudevillian, who just may be the ghost. Capt. Donovan has an able sargeant and a personal life with a girlfriend who's a retired cop, now running a restaurant and while it's referred to, it in no way detracts from this modern police procedural filled with interesting bits about New York and it's theatre district. I look forward to finding other books in this series.

A fine theater mystery

I just finished this novel, which I bought because I thought it might contain a magician, albeit a dead one. Milos the Magnificent turned out to be a vaudevillian expert with a crossbow and possibly now a ghost who has decided to take up murder with the crossbow he used in his performances. Thus, Captain Bill Donovan of the NYPD investigates murder in a theater being refurbished to put on, of all things, "Casablanca: The Musical."I don't read many current mysteries, they seemingly being much of a muchness. But this one was most enjoyable in plot, dialogue, and characterization. The solution was weak, but did not detract from what had gone before.

A Delightful Book

"Murder on Theatre Row" is a good book. Have no doubt about it--if you enjoy a detailed setting, local color, well crafted plot, plenty of humor and human interest, some good writing, and a surprise ending, this is the book. I enjoy the hero, Captain Bill Donovan. He has a good girlfriend, he's afraid of marriage, he's a recovering alcoholic, and a self-taught Renaissance Man who enjoys learning and solves cases with his intelligence and research. The women in the book are the blackbelts and the tough 'guys'; the men are less stereotypical and more human. But the main character is the City of New York, its ambiance and energy; Times Square; and the Theater District. Only in this setting could this story occur...and that's a tribute to the quality of this book.