‘The Blackest Bird’ is set in the New York City of 1841-1849. The population is exploding with new immigrants from Ireland and gangs of hooligans have divvied up territories based on national origin and religion. There is an underpaid police force headed by an astute high constable, Jacob Hays. Olga, his literary daughter, ably assists him, albeit behind the scenes. Together they try to solve the various murders in the city working to get the facts through Old Hays' interrogations and Olga's careful reading of the numerous newspapers and broadsheets then published in the city. This is not an era of scientific police work and the best Old Hays can hope for is a confession or jury-believable circumstantial evidence.

The murder of the beautiful Mary Rogers opens the book. It is July 1841. Officials in New Jersey, where the body is found, do not want the case; neither does the Mayor of New York City. Old Hays cannot begin his investigation for several days. In the meantime, the case becomes the fodder of much gossip in newsprint and though eventually taken over by High Constable Hays, the case grows cold.

Another murder, that of Samuel Adams, a printer, is more easily solved. John Colt, brother of the firearms maker Samuel Colt and an aspiring, but untalented poet, confesses to the Adams homicide. While Colt is on death row in the city's new prison, the Tombs, an Irish ruffian, Tommy Coleman, is tried and convicted of the brutal murder his wife, daughter and one Ruby Pearl, a Protestant rival gang leader. Unlike John Colt, Tommy maintains his innocence. He joins Colt at the Tombs.

The colorful Colt family arranges not only a velvet draped prison cell for brother John, but also the services of a manservant and meals brought in from a famous New York restaurant. Coleman, whose cell is across the hall, has a thin woolen blanket and the convenience of a slop bucket. Old Hays has a full house in the Tombs and his office is just down the hall.

Enter Edgar Allan Poe, the much-feared literary critic and aspiring poet. Mr. Poe, close to destitute, is hired by the Colts to write a final word portrait of John Colt on the eve of his hanging. Moreover, an elaborate prison wedding is held on execution day to formally unite Colt with his pregnant mistress. Food and festivities abound until fire breaks out and smoke fills the Tombs. Is it arson or accident? Who escapes the prison fire and who dies? Who was wrongly convicted and who should have hung? Ah, the mysteries multiply and yet still no one knows who killed the cigar salesgirl, Mary Rogers.

Edgar Allan Poe, connected to all of the main characters, now becomes central to the story. High Constable Hays, nearing retirement, plods on in his investigations. By 1844, Poe has published an unfinished story that resembles the facts surrounding Mary Rogers' murder. Old Hays tries again to tie him to the murder. From there you will have to enjoy the book on your own.

What I particularly like is that the author lets us see life in New York City as an ordinary metropolis, though some of the characters are certainly unforgettable. It seems to be a city full of intelligent folks, in a new country, trying to make a living and shape their own destinies. Some have better plans for that than others and better opportunities. Those who can help themselves, do. You get the feeling, that be it ever so horrible, New York City is quite a hometown.

There are sewer canals, swamps have been drained, water sources protected. Young men drink to excess and women fear for their virtue except when they fall for cads. Ward heelers turn out the vote for the town's political machines. Gangs rule whole neighborhoods and fight mercilessly. Men of literary ambition are everywhere in the city. Salons showcase the best writers and the whole town seems to hang on every word in the daily press. It seems like a normal big city to me.

I love learning why cops are called that and how Colt got the idea for the revolver. You can see Joel Rose's research on every page. Every pleasing bit of information is seamlessly woven into the story. Do you know what a leatherhead is and why? Reading ‘The Blackest Bird’, you lose track of now. You are in the story, in the place, with Old Hays as he tries out a patented recliner chair. You feel part of the city.

I found the book well written, well plotted and fascinating. I read it once, and then read it a second time just for fun. I highly recommend it. There is plenty here for the mystery buff and the historical novel buff. And there is poetry.

"Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting -
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!"
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! – quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."