Gregg Hurwitz The Crime Writer

The Crime Writer

Gregg Hurwitz

Viking, Jul 2007, $24.95

ISBN 0670063215

In Los Angeles crime writer Andrew "Drew" Danner wakes up in the hospital with no knowledge of how he was found holding a knife and blood is all over him that is not his while his former fianc e Genevieve Bertrand lies dead nearby. Having recently undergone surgery to remove a brain tumor, his short term memory is off. Thus he cannot remember how he came to the crime scene let alone killing Genevieve, but refuses to believe he would murder her as he feels that goes against his natural instincts.

Drew is found not guilty due to temporary insanity. However, he obsesses with knowing the truth as to whether he committed the homicide as everyone else assumes he did. He makes himself the amateur sleuth in a detective story and begins his investigation. When a second murder similar to the Bertrand homicide occurs, Drew looks guilty, but this time he knows he did not murder anyone. Someone is out to get him by using seemingly innocent people that Drew knows to point the police at him.

The first part of this exciting thriller may be the best opening ploy in the mystery genre this year. Once the court case is finished, the story line remains strong as readers will want to know whether Drew is capable of killing especially an innocent, but loses some of the momentum as the police become culpable with mistakes in their inquiry. Still Gregg Hurwitz provides an exhilarating tale starring a fascinating beleaguered protagonist who along with the audience wonders if H. Rap Brown's famous saying "violence is American as cherry pie" is true?

Harriet Klausner