Bank Robbers

Until its didactic denouement, Criscuolo's second novel, following Wiseguys in Love, is a poignant mystery starring a trio of scrappy urban seniors. Alone, broke and stricken with osteoporosis, a medical condition that Medicaid won't pay for, New York City widow Dottie Weist decides to rob a bank. Her plan is to get caught and be sentenced to a prison where she'll receive proper medical treatment along with food and lodging. A friend, the widowed Teresa, has the name of someone who will sell her a gun; when Dottie arrives at the pawnshop, she comes face to face with Arthur, a former bank robber whom she jilted long ago. Wondering about Dottie's plans for the gun, Arthur tails her out of the shop and into a scheme that both backfires and rewards the lonely, angry threesome. Rough-hewn and gritty, Criscuolo's characters have a distinctive appeal that is ill-served by moralizing at the tale's end. (Feb.)