Death in the Steel City

By Thomas Lipinski

Book Overview

CENTER> Sins of the Father Pittsburgh is a stew of ethnic divisions and, for some, a heritage of crime, punishment, and revenge. This is the legacy left to Carroll Dorsey, the son of a powerful political boss who is on his deathbed. Now a P.I. working the same streets where he once played as a boy, Dorsey is determined to look forward and not back as he makes a living in the city he's always called home. But nothing is as it seems when Dorsey is retained by an old gentlemanly Jewish gangster to search for the man's long-lost lover. As Dorsey traces the life, times, and disappearance of a magnificent woman with a Lena Horne smile, he finds himself immersed in the most agonizing case of his career. For as he winds his way through broken families, broken neighborhoods, and broken promises, to the scene of a horrifying triple homicide, Dorsey is forced to confront a crime carried out fifty years ago--one that reaches far too close to home...Pittsburgh is a stew of ethnic divisions and, for some, a heritage of crime, punishment, and revenge. This is the legacy left to Carroll Dorsey, the son of a powerful political boss who is on his deathbed. Now a P.I. working the same streets where he once played as a boy, Dorsey is determined to look forward and not back as he makes a living in the city he's always called home. But nothing is as it seems when Dorsey is retained by an old gentlemanly Jewish gangster to search for the man's long-lost lover. As Dorsey traces the life, times, and disappearance of a magnificent woman with a Lena Horne smile, he finds himself immersed in the most agonizing case of his career. For as he winds his way through broken families, broken neighborhoods, and broken promises, to the scene of a horrifying triple homicide, Dorsey is forced to confront a crime carried out fifty years ago---one that reaches far too close to home...Pittsburgh is a stew of ethnic divisions and, for some, a heritage of crime, punishment, and revenge. This is the legacy left to Carroll Dorsey, the son of a powerful political boss who is on his deathbed. Now a P.I. working the same streets where he once played as a boy, Dorsey is determined to look forward and not back as he makes a living in the city he's always called home. But nothing is as it seems when Dorsey is retained by an old gentlemanly Jewish gangster to search for the man's long-lost lover. As Dorsey traces the life, times, and disappearance of a magnificent woman with a Lena Horne smile, he finds himself immersed in the most agonizing case of his career. For as he winds his way through broken families, broken neighborhoods, and broken promises, to the scene of a horrifying triple homicide, Dorsey is forced to confront a crime carried out fifty years ago---one that reaches far too close to home...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380794322
• ISBN13: 9780380794324
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: Avon Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Death in the Steel City

Very gripping book. I couldn't put it down, and had to order all the others this guy wrote. My husband grew up in the exact area Lipinski writes about. I love to go there and visit. Lipinski's gift is that he hardly has to use any words to create colorful, strong stories. He has a steel-trap detective brain with the soul of a musician or artist. Probably would have been a first-rate criminal. The people and places are REAL - you see them walking around, and you KNOW them. The old woman was my mother-in-law. The guy dropping dead on the way home from the mill was probably our uncle that dropped dead at the slaughter-house, laughing at a joke during his coffee break. Even if you think you can second-guess the outcome, you are in for a real ride.

Great new detective to follow

Great story as the plot was tight and nicely tied together at the end. Looking forward to the other's my Mr. Lipinski.

Grijpstra & de Gier + Milan Jacovich = Carrol Dorsey?

Thomas Lipinski has done for Pittsburgh what Les Roberts' Milan Jacovich series did for Cleveland: namely, put PI procedurals squarely in the middle of real, rust belt locales. "Death in the Steel City" adds a shot of Janwillem van de Wetering to the mix, as PI Dorsey ruminates on the ways of life and death, fathers and sons, and the polarities of race, creed, gender, and generations. Underneath it all is story good enough to keep fans of the genre turning pages and detail rich enough to keep expatriate Pittsburghers (like this reviewer) looking homeward. If you haven't discovered Lipinski and Dorsey, this is a good place to begin.