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Bill Donovan
Series · 9 books · 1980-2003

Books in series

Night Rituals book cover
#1

Night Rituals

1980

One after another in dimly lit Riverside Park, three young women are brutally murdered. Palm fronds bind their wrists, and halos of corn kernels frame their heads. Blood has been taken from their bodies; no blood is on the ground. Who killed them? Before long, Bill Donovan, commander of the West Side Major Crimes Unit, has reason to suspect the habitués of Riley's Saloon, the Broadway tavern where he and his drinking buddies hang out. Especially since the third victim is the sister of Donovan's new girlfriend, Rosie, the night bartender at Riley's. Gradually Donovan realizes that the bizarre killing spree is directed at him. Enlisting the aid of Marcie Barnes, a glamorous black undercover police detective who is also his on-again, off-again lover, Donovan sets a trap. Marcie, suited up, will jog in the park alone and draw the killer out. But Donovan has begun to lose his cool....Their collaboration nearly kills them both, and drags them through a maze of clues pointing to Manhattan street people, American Indians, Haitian refugees, and a murderer who lurks at nightfall, stealing forward now and again to claim a life. Here's a big-city thriller, a cinematic read that's scary and enticing.
Death Games book cover
#2

Death Games

1987

Bill Donovan, head of the West Side Major Crimes Unit, investigates the case of a mysterious and beautiful woman from the horse country of Virginia who stalks and kills mobsters with a Civil War pistol.
City of God book cover
#3

City of God

1992

When a serial killer sets up house in New York City's Cathedral of St. John the Divine and is bent on punishing the city's sinners, New York City Detective Bill Donovan must tackle his toughest case yet.
Murder at the Museum of Natural History book cover
#4

Murder at the Museum of Natural History

1994

Murder at the Museum of Natural History marks the return of Lieutenant William Donovan to the mystery arena. In his fourth adventure, Donovan continues his trademark pursuit of killers who use exotic weapons to shed blood on the floors of Big Apple landmarks. This time he tracks a murderer who steals a priceless one-thousand-year-old dagger - a gift Marco Polo was carrying to Kublai Khan from the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII - and strikes at the gala opening celebration of a world-famous archaeological exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. In the course of several very busy days and nights, Donovan sorts clues and interrogates suspects while keeping company with the victim's movie star wife. The stunning and infamous Katy Lucca has become, overnight, the world's wealthiest, most beautiful, and, clearly, hottest-blooded widow. Several questions loom: Who killed playboy billionaire and archaeologist Paolo Lucca? Is Katy involved in her husband's death? How will Donovan handle some very shady, and extremely dangerous, characters - provincial terrorists and Russian mafiosi - who fled to New York from the ashes of the old Soviet Union? The Treasure of the Silk Road exhibit, an incredible display of artifacts from the old Silk Road that ran from Cathay to the West, has brought all of these characters together. Now Donovan must search through layers of deception and the halls of the American Museum of Natural History to uncover a brutal murderer.
Murder on Theatre Row book cover
#5

Murder on Theatre Row

1997

A series of murders surrounding a musical production at the Knickerbocker Theatre brings to light an unlikely suspect in Milo the Magnificent, who is believed dead, presenting a dilemma for Captain Bill Donovan. Reprint.
Murder on Fifth Avenue book cover
#6

Murder on Fifth Avenue

1998

The brilliant sixth mystery in the witty and enthralling Detective Jin Donovan seriesChristmas in New York City has detective Jim Donovan resting comfortably with his expectant wife, enjoying his well deserved partial leave from the danger and mayhem of the big city. When a high society Manhattanite is shot and killed while shopping for jewels with his fiancée on Fifth Avenue. Detective Donovan is drawn, quite unwillingly, into the most bizarre and suspenseful case of his career. Murder on Fifth Avenue is sure to grip readers right through to its startling conclusion.
Murder in Central Park book cover
#7

Murder in Central Park

2000

When a quiet night atop a bird conservatory in Central Park runs afoul, Donovan is sent off to follow another twisting murder case. With a slew of suspects, Donovan must use his skills to track down the murderer. There's the internet-exhibitionist daughter of a famous beat poet, a pack of rollerblading hoods, a jealous husband and a pair of eccentric scientist all thrown in the mix. Anyone could be the killer.
Murder on the Waterfront book cover
#8

Murder on the Waterfront

2001

NYPD Captain Bill Donovan is up to his ears in whispers of conspiracy when the campaign manager for a right-wing presidential candidate turns up dead on the Manhattan waterfront. Reprint.
Murder in Coney Island book cover
#9

Murder in Coney Island

2003

It is now almost a year after the World Trade Center attacks, and New York City is still struggling with the horrible aftermath. For Captain Bill Donovan, Chief of Special Investigations for the NYPD, watching helplessly as his beloved city was torn apart was painful and heartbreaking. Therefore, when the body of notorious real estate developer James Victor is found in the basement of a Coney Island candy store, Donovan throws himself into the investigation as a way to ease the pain. Victor certainly has not been endearing himself to the local blue-collar Coney Island crowd in the recent months - he is the driving force behind a multimillion-dollar urban renewal project aimed at tearing down the old charming buildings and storefronts near the boardwalk in favor of erecting lavish condos. Soon, Donovan and his friend and associate, Brooklyn's massively muscled Brian Moskowitz, enter a world where the financial stakes are high and the emotional stakes are even higher.

Authors

Michael Jahn
Michael Jahn
Author · 10 books

I'm a reporter, photographer, and professional novelist. A newspaperman's son, I began my daily newspaper career at The New York Times, where I was hired in 1968 to cover the music beat (folk, blues, and rock), making me the first full-time rock journalist for major media. That made me well-enough known (or notorious, maybe) so that a few years on I switched to writing fiction, mostly detective novels, and have published 50 books, one of which won the prestigious Edgar Award. In reviewing "Night Rituals" (1982), the New Yorker wrote that "Jahn writes with a flourish that is entirely his own." And they didn't say "and he can keep it too" so I've been using that quote ever since. Right now (2012) I'm publishing Kindle editions of my critically acclaimed Bill Donovan Mysteries, which I published from 1982 to 2008. Up so far: "Murder in Coney Island," "Murder in Central Park," "Murder on Theatre Row," "Murder on the Waterfront," and "Murder at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine" (originally published as "City of God"). My Edgar winner, "The Quark Maneuver," also is up in Kindle. I've begun writing a memoir, not so much of me but of my very unusual ancestors, who had this Forest Gumpian ability to find themselves standing next to fame or infamy. An ancestor on the Spanish side, a sailor, went to Japan with Perry, fought in the Civil War under Farragut (and, I like to think, was the man the Admiral was thinking about when he hollered "Damn the torpedoes ... full speed ahead!"), and later helped rescue a man-eating meteorologist who was frozen in the Arctic ice. My newspaperman dad survived a car chase with Dutch Schultz and drank bourbon on a transcontinental train with Harry Truman. I'll write about all this stuff. Wouldn't you? The working title is "Told to Me by a Sailor who Died (I'll Never Know if the Bastard Lied)." I live in New York City.

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