Thursday, May 28, 2020

Murder Mysteries with a Dollop of Local History

Linda Fairstein has carved out that interesting field with gusto.  Nine books to date featuring Alexandra Cooper, Ass't  DA, in New York City.  Fairstein is herself a lawyer, who served for 25 years as the chief prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office Sex Crimes Unit and today is a legal expert for major media.

Her books and their crimes are located in historic spots in Manhattan.  "Bad Blood" which I'm currently reading, goes deep under the streets of Manhattan - where subway lines, sewers and water mains criss-cross the City; some go down as deeply as a 60-story hi-rise goes up.    

Statistics are tossed in through all of her books.  Yesterday I learned that New York City goes through 1.4 billion gallons of water per day - drinking, bathing, washing one's car, myriad uses.  Water for Italian restaurants pasta pots?  (made that up.)   I assume these statistics were current in 2007 when the book was published.

Now 73, Fairstein has been married twice.  Justin Feldman was her first husband whom she married in 1987 and buried in 2011.  He was 92.  In 2014 she married Michael Goldberg and they live happily in Manhattan and Martha's Vineyard.

If you are history buff with a special interest in Manhattan, these are for you.

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