Dead Ahead - Hardcover

Ruby Horansky

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0749901101 ISBN 13: 9780749901103

Publisher: Piatkus Books, 1992

Synopsis

With only three days to prove a connection between the death of hustler Frankie Sunmann and the boating accident of a wealthy tycoon forty-eight hours earlier, police detective Nikki Trakos follows a trail from Coney Island to Park Ave.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

This mystery debut, an unremarkable entry in the burgeoning field of mysteries featuring female detectives, introduces Junoesque Nikki Trakos of the NYPD. On her first homocide investigation, her chauvinistic chief gives Trakos three days to find the killer of a middle-aged loser shot to death in a desolate section of Brooklyn. Trakos is paired with Dave Lawton, a hotshot detective from the city's special homicide squad, to whom she is immediately attracted. Lawton is also involved in a bigger, more newsworthy case, however, so for the most part Trakos is on her own. Trakos has personal problems as well: her mother worries about her continuing spinsterhood; her troubled niece needs her at home. Her one clue leads to the beautiful, ungrieving widow of Barry Douglas, a wealthy businessman who has just died in the mysterious explosion of his boat. Pursuing both investigations, Trakos finally makes the connection between the two men and arrests the killer, but the reader has long since guessed the culprit's identity. Horansky's knowledge of the NYPD and of the city is clear, and Trakos is a feisty, appealing heroine, but the mystery is weighed down by a slow, simplistic plot and unconvincingly portrayed relationships.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Horansky's third novel--but first mystery--initiates New York police detective Nikki Trakos, an attractive, 30-year-old six-footer confronted with her first murder case. Raising a traumatized niece, contending with a chauvinistic boss, and fighting romantic feelings for her temporary partner from homicide all intrude on her urgent desire to solve the case within a three-day deadline. Connections soon appear between the victim, a small-time gambler shot dead in a parking lot, and a wealthy stockbroker blown up on his boat. Despite some transparent plotting, the low-level action and expected side diversions proceed with dispatch. Obvious, perhaps, but perfect for an undemanding, general audience.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Piatkus Books
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0749901101
• ISBN 13: 9780749901103
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256