The Mysterious Bookshop

Helen Reilly - McKee of Centre Street

A speakeasy performer is murdered in this pioneering mystery from the mother of the police procedural.

When one of New York’s favorite dancers is killed in a crowded high-tone speakeasy, everyone present becomes a suspect―and those that may have eluded questioning as well. It’s up to Inspector McKee of the NYPD to sift through the witness statements, separate fact from fiction, and put together a picture of the crime as it happened in order to discover what’s missing from the official narrative. And in the process, he’ll uncover a story that leads back into the past, with blackmail and stolen emeralds lurking in the shadows.…

As McKee’s case comes into focus, a rich and confounding mystery plot is revealed, which will take all of the inspector’s resources to solve. Along the way, the inner workings of the New York City police department in the 1930s is on full display, including the line-ups, the radio room, the morgue, and the fingerprinting office―technologies that were at the cutting edge of the era’s fight against crime.

Reissued for the first time eighty years, McKee of Centre Street is one of the first police procedurals ever written by a woman. The novel’s realistic New York setting and insightful view of police work was an instant hit with fans and its lead character went on to star in over thirty books.

The World's Oldest Mystery Fiction Specialty Store

Specializing in Mystery Fiction and all its subgenres, including Detective, Crime, Hardboiled, Thrillers, Espionage, and Suspense.

Located at 58 Warren St. in New York City, we are open Monday-Saturday from 11am-7pm.

If your order is a combination of in-stock and pre-order items, please note all items will ship together once everything is on-hand.

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212.587.1011

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