77th Street Requiem (A Maggie MacGowen Mystery)

by Wendy Hornsby, Leonard Telesca (Designed by)

Overview

Investigative filmmaker/amateur sleuth Maggie MacGowan plans to shoot the film of her career--the story of the 20-year-old unsolved murder of an L.A. cop who had a nasty habit of making dangerous enemies. But as she relentlessly attempts to get closer to the truth, she finds that someone desperately wants her out of the picture--in a more permanent way. Original.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525939986
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/01/1995
Series:	Maggie MacGowen Mystery Series
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.89(w) x 8.85(h) x 1.14(d)

Table of Contents

Editorial Reviews

Street life and the surreal political culture of the 1970s combine explosively, making Edgar Award winner Hornsby's fourth Maggie MacGowen novel (following Bad Intent) a tour de force. Independent filmmaker Maggie has a contract with a TV network to produce a documentary on the unsolved 1974 murder of L.A. cop Roy Frady, who made a name for himself in the LAPD's anti-gang unit, CRASH. She's especially eager for what the project may tell her about her lover, Detective Mike Flint, who was one of Frady's best friends. More than one gang member, striving for street credibility, claimed to have killed Frady, but none of their stories held up. Now, as Maggie talks to former wives and lovers of the dead cop, she finds that the trail leads to the Symbionese Liberation Army and the kidnapping of Patti Hearst. Then, just as she thinks she might be getting a handle on Frady's life and death, her sources are killed off. As devastating as the trip back to 1974 is for Maggie, it becomes even more harrowing for Mike, who must own up to the follies of his youth. Hornsby's powerful writing and her equally thought-provoking story blend to make this one of the most gripping, compelling mysteries of the year. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

ornsby's latest book is a fascinating blend of speculation and fact, using the Symbionese Liberation Army's 1974 kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst as one factual piece in a fictional murder story about a 20-year-old unsolved cop killing. Maggie MacGowen, Hornsby's feisty filmmaker-turned-detective, is making a documentary on the 1974 murder of L.A. cop Roy Frady, who turned up full of bullet holes one night in a burned-out house near the SLA's hideout. Frady was one of the Four Whoresmen, a bunch of hard-drinking, womanizing, carousing cops that also included Maggie's boyfriend, Detective Mike Flint, and cops Hector Melendez and Doug Senecal. As Maggie gathers background for her film, she" interviews dozens of Frady's friends, colleagues, and sex partners but soon finds herself facing a confusing array of time-distorted facts, murky half-truths, and disjointed stories about the fateful night Frady was murdered. When someone tries to kidnap Maggie and burn her house down, it's obvious that her probing has uncovered some dangerous secrets perhaps better left buried. A cunningly convoluted, suspense-filled plot and a quirky, likable heroine are only two of the many strengths of this exciting, thoroughly captivating read.

Emily Melton