National Network for Equitable Library Service

Worlds within worlds; enter into a very special culture with unwritten rules. Brian McNulty, veteran bartender at Oscar's on the Upper West Side, respects his customers' privacy and their space. But when one, a tarnished but innocent young woman seduced by New York's bright lights and glitter, is murdered and another battered innocent charged with killing her, he reluctantly begins his own investigation. Brian's enthusiasm for the chase is given a boost with the arrival of the dead girl's sister, a young business woman from Massachusetts, equally bent on uncovering the killer. She's put off by his jaded attitude and offbeat lifestyle, but comes to rely upon his familiarity with the city's darker underside. Brian, in turn, enlists the aid of a cadre of neighborhood cronies. The suspects: all of the regulars at Oscar's, each with more to hide than the next. A leftist politically, a dedicated union man, Brian learns that when you dig into people's lives, rich or poor, you find things kept hidden for good reason. By stirring up these ghosts, you change the shape of the landscape and put your friends in harm's way. This special first novel comes wrapped in art work created for it by famed artist Fritz Scholder.