From Publishers Weekly
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. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Veteran crime writer Heffernan offers an atmospheric homage to the noir-tinged melodrama of the 1940s. Standing for Dana Andrews in the film Laura is NYPD detective Jake Downing, who falls under the spell of Cynthia Reed, hatcheck-girl-turned- wife of a crooked judge, whose head has been bashed in with a gavel. When the big boys downtown deliver a gift-wrapped suspect, Jake and hard-nosed partner Jimmy Finn know the fix is in, but their hands are tied---not that Jake cares much, since he's fallen into the widow Reed's bed while his own wife prepares to give birth back in Brooklyn. Flash-forward 30 years, and Jake, now a widower himself, vows to reopen the case. Heffernan juggles the time frames effectively, gradually revealing what happened and how it affected the principals' later lives. The crime story plays itself out agreeably if a tad predictably, but the real draw here is the cafe-society ambience--dinner at the Stork Club, drinks at 21, etc. A pleasant evening's read, best served with martinis. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description

"A superior crime drama . . . Edgar-winning Heffernan once again shows himself a craftsman of the hardboiled style, as well as a seamless handler of shifting viewpoints and emotions."-Publishers Weekly

Spanning the years 1945-1975, this is the story of rookie detective Jake Downing, who gets deeper than he planned in the investigation of a murdered New York City judge. Two decades later, Downing reopens a door that he will never be able to close.

William Heffernan, a three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, is the author of 15 novels, including such bestsellers as The Corsican, The Dinosaur Club (a New York Times bestseller), Tarnished Blue (Edgar Award winner), Cityside and Beulah Hill. He lives in Vermont.


From the Inside Flap
"A sleekly constructed homage to those noir novels of yesteryear . . . [Heffernan's] feelings for the postwar period are palpable in his seductive descriptions of New York nightscapes and in the free-and-easy speech patterns of characters long gone but too vivid to be forgotten." --NEW YORK TIMES "There's a nice noir feeling to the opening pages of A TIME GONE BY . . . Heffernan's novels are not so much about the murder but the effect the murder has on the people involved. That's not just good mystery writing. That's good writing, period." --DENVER POST "Heffernan's tale is beguiling . . . His success in the reworking of a classic American art form is also obvious. Cain and Hammett would have approved." --ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS "An aging police detective's regrets are examined in raw, moving detail in this superior crime drama . . . Edgar-winning Heffernan once again shows himself a craftsman of the hardboiled style, as well as a seamless handler of shifting viewpoints and emotions." --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY


About the Author
WILLIAM HEFFERNAN, a 3-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, is the author of fifteen novels, including such bestsellers as THE CORSICAN, THE DINOSAUR CLUB (a New York Times bestseller), and TARNISHED BLUE (Edgar Award winner). Akashic Books has published trade paperback editions of Heffernan's novels CITYSIDE and BEULAH HILL. He lives in Vermont.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Jake Downing is a rookie detective on the New York City Police force when he is called in to investigate the murder of one of the city's most prominent judges. A man who relished his position of power, and who also loved the excitement of the city's thriving post-World War II cafe society, Judge Wallace Reed was the top contender to become New York's next governor. All that and more is brought to an untimely end when the judge is found bludgeoned to death in his elegant Upper East Side town house.

The eventual outcome of the police investigation is the arrest and conviction - and ultimate execution - of a man who fit all the requirements of a killer. The murder case, and his involvement in its resolution, launches Jake Downing's career, a meteoric rise to the position of Chief of Detectives. But what Downing can't ever escape is his knowledge that the wrong person was sent to the electric chair - it is something that has haunted him for years, ultimately destroying his personal life by driving away everyone he had ever loved. Now, facing retirement, Downing decides to reopen the investigation, to get both the record and his conscience straight - no matter what it costs, no matter whom it hurts. What really happened on that rainy night in 1945? Who wanted the judge killed?

Certainly Cynthia Reed, his sultry young widow, had questionable reasons for ever marrying him. But did she also want him dead?

When Jake Downing was given the task of protecting the widow, he knew it was a mistake - she was beautiful and vulnerable, but she was also trouble. It was an assignment that would change forever the life of this idealistic young detective.

Now, two decades later, as he struggles tofind the real murderer of Judge Reed, Jake Downing is opening a door he will never be able to close, as memories embrace him and shards of truth threaten to penetrate his soul.

But is it truth that Downing really wants, or is it revenge?

FROM THE CRITICS

The New York Times

The style is the substance of A Time Gone By, William Heffernan's sleekly constructed homage to those noir novels of yesteryear, when cops were corrupt, beautiful women were poison, and politicians and mobsters drank together at the Stork Club. — Marilyn Stasio

Publishers Weekly

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) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

In glittery 1940s New York, overeager detective Jake Downing solved the gruesome murder of a would-be governor by putting an innocent man in the electric chair, making his career but destroying his life. Decades later, he decides to find the real killer. Heffernan racks up his 16th novel in a solid career that has included an Edgar Award for tarnished blue and best sellers like The Dinosaur Club. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews