Introduction

In March of 1975, as New York City hurtles toward bankruptcy and the Bronx burns, newsman Coleridge Taylor roams police precincts and ERs. He is looking for the story that will deliver him from obits, his place of exile at the Messenger-Telegram. Ever since he was demoted from the police beat for inventing sources, the 34-year-old has been a lost soul. A break comes at Bellevue, where Taylor views the body of a homeless teen picked up in the Meatpacking District. Taylor smells a rat: the dead boy looks too clean, and he’s wearing a distinctive Army field jacket. A little digging reveals that the jacket belonged to a hobo named Mark Voichek and that the teen was a spoiled society kid up to no good, the son of a city official. Taylor’s efforts to protect Voichek put him on the hit list of three goons who are willing to kill any number of street people to cover tracks that just might lead to City Hall. Taylor has only one ally in the newsroom, young and lovely reporter Laura Wheeler. Time is not on his side. If he doesn’t wrap this story up soon, he’ll be back on the obits page—as a headline, not a byline. Last Words is the first book in the Coleridge Taylor mystery series.

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Excerpt

"You're the best goddamned reporter in the place."

The passion in her voice forced Taylor to raise his eyes from his plate. Laura's porcelain white skin reddened delightfully at any sort of emotion--anger, embarrassment, happiness.

He didn't have a good answer. "I don't need your pity."

"No, you don't. You're wallowing in it fine all on your own. I stopped by again this morning. How can an obit writer be out of the office so much?"

"I was over in the South Bronx."

"South Bronx?"

"I've got a lead on a good story, believe it or not." He couldn't help it. He needed to talk to someone. He told her about the search for Joshua Harper and Mark Voichek, all to ID a dead kid at Bellevue. He threw in the Street Sweepers for good measure. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. Is Taylor correct in his view of obituaries, that they are dull lists of relatives and club memberships that don’t really reflect a person’s life? Discuss how they could be improved.

2. Taylor views his role as collecting all the facts on a crime and reporting them. He doesn’t think he should get emotionally involved in the story. Does he hold to his ideal? Should he?

3. New York City is almost an alien landscape in 1975 compared to today. What about the city during those dark days surprised you most? Is most frightening or shocking?

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