Manbeck’s new crime novella is set in Brooklyn Heights in 1930

Brooklyn BookBeat

April 9, 2014 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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John Manbeck, the former Brooklyn borough historian and retired professor of English and journalism at Kingsborough Community College, has published the second novella in his “Brooklyn Heights Crime Series.”

His latest fast-paced period crime opus, “The Disappearance of Patricia Murphey,” has been published on Amazon Kindle, and a print-on-demand paperback version will be available soon.

Like his first novella, “Death on the Rise,” “The Disappearance of Patricia Murphey” is set in 1930, and has many of the same characters from the old 86th Precinct House on Poplar Street. In the book, Brooklyn College student Patricia Murphey goes missing, and her father fears the worst. The story traces the police search through the streets of Brooklyn, with an ending at Floyd Bennett Field.

“The Disappearance of Patricia Murphey” features a cover by Gail Smollon, who also has designed a new cover for “Death on the Rise,” which is still available on Amazon. Print versions of both books also have back covers designed by Smollon.

The third novella, “Skeleton in the Attic,” will be released this summer. It is set in the Long Island Historical Society, now known as the Brooklyn Historical Society.

The electronic versions cost $0.99 and are available worldwide. Print editions are slightly more. They are available on amazon.com.