A TIME GONE BY

An aging police detective's regrets are examined in raw, moving detail in this superior crime drama revolving around an old murder case. Told from multiple viewpoints spanning a 30-year period from 1945 to 1975, the novel charts the troubled conscience of Jake Downing, who has risen to chief of detectives in New York City yet remains haunted by an investigation he oversaw as a young detective. Downing and his partner, Jimmy Finn, had the misfortune of being assigned the hot-potato homicide of Judge Wallace Reed, who was found bludgeoned to death in his apartment on a rainy morning at the end of WWII. For political reasons, the city's influential underworld bosses, as well as the police brass, frame a local thug for the killing, despite Downing's suspicions that Reed was slain as part of a shady real estate deal. Downing reluctantly goes along with the setup, a decision that leads to the execution of an innocent man. At the same time, the detective also falls under the influence of Reed's young wife, Cynthia, who seduces Downing into an affair that destroys his marriage. Now, 30 years later, Downing—seeking personal redemption under the guise of a quest for justice—reopens the case, finding himself fighting the same political and personal forces as in his younger days. Edgar-winning Heffernan (The Dinosaur Club; Beulah Hill) once again shows himself a craftsman of the hardboiled style, as well as a seamless handler of shifting viewpoints and emotions. Though predictable in its conclusion, this small, quiet story of one man's quest to free himself from his demons and guilt is a modest gem. (Aug. 1)