Title: Blood Alley

Author: Tom Coffey

Pages: 277

Available: Online and booksellers

It's every inexperienced reporter's dream to be handed a blockbuster story that will catapult him to the fame of the front page, and Patrick Grimes, a new rewrite man for the New York Examiner gets his test late one night.

Fresh from the European killing fields of World War II, Grimes has returned home where he landed a satisfying job, working the telephone and writing news stories for the morning edition as the star reporters call in their big stories from the field.

But one night no one can find the police reporter, so the editor sends Grimes and a photographer to investigate the death of a beautiful woman in Blood Alley, a seedy section of town boasting breweries, bawdiness and boarders in bad tenement housing near the East River.

The victim turns out to be a wealthy socialite, the oldest daughter of one of Manhattan's wealthiest men. Possessing more innocence than a reporter's nose for news, Grimes begins investigating what would draw this woman to that part of town.

Written by Tom Coffey, a staff editor at the New York Times, "Blood Alley's" rendition of the early newspaper business rings true and makes the plot all the more interesting - and disturbing: One of the city's most flagrant muckrakers, the Examiner aims to sell newspapers. So it's common for the photographer to carry props to a scene and even to rearrange a body for a sensational photo that could land it on the front page.

Reporters frequently turn a pretty phrase using superlatives and innuendo, striving to beat their competition as they disregard today's journalistic standards.

But this is the 1940s.

Set in New York, where everything - and everyone - is for sale, "Blood Alley" is an exciting read, particularly for news history buffs. Because he got the big scoop on the murder, Grimes is assigned to write even more stories about the socialite's life and death, including the arrest and "confession" of the night watchman who found the body.

Convinced the man is truly innocent, Grimes sets out to find the truth and uncovers corruption everywhere he turns. Not an experienced reporter, Grimes' techniques appear amateurish and make him vulnerable, but his heart won't let him rest. His investigation tempts danger and as he gets closer to the truth, his job, his sanity and his very life are at risk.

As Grimes' frustration with his job and the town's long-running corruption mount, they collide with his past in a surprising and explosive ending that leaves the reader with mixed feelings.

First, we are satisfied that Grimes has done what is humanly possible to save an innocent man while, second, in our hearts we cannot reconcile the injustice and betrayal that lead Grimes to the only solution open to him.

(Kris Fehr lives with her family in Dickinson, where she directs Western Wellness Foundation and the Best Friends Mentoring Program, a nonprofit organization, and does some freelance writing.)