Book Review: Murder on the Waterfront

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Murder on the Waterfront     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Michael Jahn
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural
Series: Bill Donovan # 8
St. Martin’s, Oct 2001, $23.95, 320 pp.

Captain Bill Donovan is a very contented man, married to the woman he loves and having a one and a half-year-old son to raise. His job as a cop in the New York Police Department is very satisfying except when he has to play politician and stand in for the mayor at a formal dinner that has nothing to do with catching the bad guys.

Donovan and Marcy are bored to tears at he party given on a cruise ship to raise funds for a third party conservative candidate for president. They sneak out early and go to another boat where a friend of Donovan and Marcy is hosting a party. The next morning Donovan returns to the second boat because a body is found on it. The man who is murdered was the campaign manager of the presidential candidate. As Donovan digs into the dead man’s life, he finds more suspects that a dog has fleas. It will take a lot of hard investigative work to ferret out who the killer really is.

The Bill Donovan police procedurals are always enjoyable to read and MURDER ON THE Waterfront is no exception. Donovan’s sardonic wit lightens up the complex story line considerably especially when he and his partner engage in witty repartee. Donovan is a man to admire as he has found his place in the world and is content to roll with the punches. Michael Jahn humanizes his hero through his interactions with his wife and his son, and that, in turn, makes him very endearing to the audience.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner