Bodies in Winter

September 14, 2009
Knightly, a former New York City police officer, makes a solid debut with this novel of crime and corruption. Seven years after Brooklyn cop David Lodge pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Clarence Spott, who was bludgeoned to death in a precinct cell, Lodge leaves prison only to be gunned down shortly thereafter. Det. Harry Corbin and his partner, Det. Adele Bentibi, have trouble with the official theory of the case. They believe that evidence has been manipulated to finger Spott's brother as the murderer, and both buck their superiors by pursuing other leads. For Corbin, his unwillingness to simply go along to get along jeopardizes his long-held dream of a transfer to the homicide division. The trail, somewhat predictably, leads the pair to reopen the issue of Lodge's guilt. While no one will mistake this portrayal of police work with those of masters like Joseph Wambaugh and Michael Connelly, it's good enough to make further books from Knightly a welcome prospect.

October 1, 2009
Investigating the murder of a fellow cop is especially dicey when the victim has a horde of enemies.

After alcoholic NYPD officer David Lodge blacks out during a particularly lively shift with his partner and guardian Dante Russo, he wakes up the prime suspect in the brutal murder of street thug Clarence Spott. With no memory of events, Lodge has little choice but to plead guilty. Seven years later, hard-boiled detective Harry Corbin is called with his partner Adele Bentibi to investigate the murder of Lodge, cut down on a city street shortly after his release from Attica. Lodge's grim widow Ellen has nothing but bitterness for her husband, the protestors who reviled him and the police department she believes sold him out. This last view gains traction with Corbin when he learns that the NYPD has managed to misplace the Lodge file. Nor can he question retired cop Anthony Szarek, the key witness who provided Russo with an alibi and placed Lodge with Spott, because Szarek inconveniently committed suicide two weeks before Lodge's release. Corbin treks out to Attica, where wary fellow con Peter Jarazelsky carefully describes Lodge's fear of revenge from a certain inmate, declining to be more specific. When Corbin and Bentibi try to come at the case via Szarek's suicide, they encounter more opposition and obfuscation from the police. And so it goes.

Knightly's debut is overloaded with familiar plot elements, but his gritty style promises better Corbin cases in the future.

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Starred review from October 15, 2009
New York cop David Lodge is a drunk. His partners usually cover for him, but when he beats bad-boy pimp Clarence Spott to death after arresting him, his colleagues want nothing to do with him. Landed with a jail term, Lodge serves his time and is eventually released, only to be shot dead in a Mafia-style killing. Catching the case are Detectives Harry Corbin and Adele BentibiCorbin, a by-the-books career cop whos awaiting promotion to the Homicide Squad; Bentibi, with a strong need to achieve justice, whatever the cost. The pair concludes theres been a a gross miscarriage of justice suggesting that those who should be the most trusted are the most corrupt. As they begin to ferret out the truth, their jobs and lives are threatened, but this only spurs the pair on. Knightlys more than 20 years as an NYPD cop lend a gritty authenticity to his book, and his deft storytelling, high-octane action, and genuinely surprising twists make the novel a gripping read from beginning to end. Joseph Wambaugh fans need to know about Knightly: he looks like the real deal.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)