A Cold Case by Philip Gourevitch Search Amazon for other books by or about Philip Gourevitch. Rating: Reviewed by: Douglas Malcolm

This tight little 'true crime' tale centers on two men who took very different paths in life; Andy Rosenzweig, chief investigator for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, and Frank Koehler, detestable "goodfellas"-era thug who managed to evade capture on a double murder charge for 27 years.

Rosenzweig is close to retirement from the DA's office when driving down a particular street knocks loose an old memory from his youth –about a brutal double murder, with one of the victims a man he knew and liked. Everyone involved knew who had done it. – Frank Koehler was seen publicly arguing and fighting with the two victims soon before the murder, and there were 2 actual witnesses to the crime. Koehler had disappeared, seemingly for good, scant moments after the crime. Surely Koehler had been apprehended in the intervening years, yes?

Wrong. When Rosenzweig called up the decades old file, he saw it had been marked "closed", that Koehler, who had never been apprehended, was "probably deceased". Apparently law enforcement agencies do this sometimes to boost their numbers. Rosenzweig is irritated by the vagueness of the case closing, and decides to sniff around the 27 year-old trail, hoping to find either proof of death, or perhaps Frank Koehler himself, still alive and well.

Thus begins the search for Frank Koehler. I'll not spoil the outcome for you.

An enjoyable read, and my only complaint would center on the length of the telling. – Gourevitch has done his best to flesh out the story, spending lots of time inside the heads of the protagonists, but even with this, the book is less than 200 pages in total length.

The details of the case, and the hunt for Frank Koehler might not slake the thirst of those readers who are used to the fantastical plot twists of modern crime/thriller fiction, but if reality is your thing, you should pick this one up.