A Time Gone by

by William Heffernan

Book Overview

A historical mystery by bestseller Heffernan in the tradition of Chandler and Hammet. Spanning the years 1945-1975, this is the story of rookie detective Jake Downing, who gets deeper than he planned in the investigation of a murdered New York City judge. Two decades later, Downing reopens a door that he will never be able to close.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1888451742
• ISBN13: 9781888451740
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Akashic Books
• Length: 290 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Elegant Writing and Strong Emotion Make a Great Read

One look at the dingy, barely lit street corner on the cover of William Hefferman's novel, A Time Gone By, and you'll know this isn't a book about cuddly cats and amateur sleuths. The bleak ambience continues on the novel's first page with a gloomy rainy night and a dead body. But here's the thing: Hefferman's writing is so elegant that I want to call the novel beautiful. From page one, I was drawn into the story by the style and protagonist's voice as much as the plot and 1945 time period. And then there's the intriguing twist in chapter two. The story leaps forward thirty years, when Chief of Detectives, Jake Downing, is still haunted by events of that night. In 1945, he was a twenty-five-year-old rookie detective, and about to make the biggest mistake of his life. At first, the plot seems straight forward. Jake and his more experienced partner, Jimmy Finn, are assigned to find out who murdered a prominent judge. But they soon realize that powerful higher-ups have already decided how this case will turn out. Things become complicated both professionally and personally for Jake as he begins to fall for the judge's gorgeous young widow, while Jake's pregnant wife waits for him at home. Hefferman does an excellent job of switching back and forth in time while moving the story forward at a carefully measured pace. Like most noir novels, this book depicts people trapped in tough-to-hopeless situations. People motivated by hidden agendas, betrayal, revenge, lust, love, and pure survival. But what really captured me was the emotion driving this novel. Not just violent rage, but guilt, regret, sadness, resignation, and varying degrees of love. Perhaps the best noir crime novels are all about strong emotions and what happens when those emotions override common sense. A Time Gone By demonstrates this in a terrific story with captivating prose.

Political Judge Murdered: Wrong Man Goes To Electric Chair

Judge Wallace Reed was found murdered in his East 54th Street townhouse. The judge was being primed to run for governor of New York state against Tom Dewey. Two detectives, Jimmy Finn and 25 year old rookie Jake Downing are assigned to the case. Their investigation is interfered with by Democratic City boss Manny Troy who has his own agenda. The time frame of the case was from 1945 to 1975, when after 30 years Downing, now Chief of Detectives, suffers from a guilty conscience about his role in allowing the guilty murderer to escape while sending the hoodlum set up by Manny Troy to the electric chair. Along the way the reader is privy to the atmosphere at The Stork Club, a torrid affair between Downing and the beautiful 23 year old wife of the deceased at the same time his wife was about to give birth, as well as the mega real estate deal for the future site of The United Nations. The book moved along at a fairly good clip with flashbacks alternated with present. The final part of the investigation was quite exciting and somewhat unexpected.

Very well written

In 1945 Manhattan, homicide detectives Jimmy Finn and Jake Downing investigate the death of Judge Wallace Reed. The most likely murder weapon, a heavy gavel with blood on it, was found near the corpse. Meanwhile City Democratic boss Manny Troy orders Downing to guard the victim's wife Cynthia, who the cop badly desires.In 1975, Downing watches his wife Mary interred in a Brooklyn cemetery. He guiltily thinks back thirty years to the affair with Cynthia while Mary gave birth alone to their daughter. Knowing he cannot make up for what he did to Mary, Downing feels he can somewhat rectify his other blunder of helping the state execute an innocent man for murder of the judge. He persuades Finn to join him in reinvestigating the case since improved technology will help, but the brass tells them as they were warned three decades ago to leave it alone or else.This is a pure police procedural as William Heffernan provides two investigations into the same murder separated by only time. The story line with its two interrelated subplots is cleverly designed so that the audience sees the changes in people and even more the differences in how investigations are conducted. The depressing key cast members all emit negative vibes so that the audience never roots for anyone. Sub-genre fans will appreciate A TIME GONE BY as a powerful comparative duality that entertains the reader. Harriet Klausner