Hard Case Crime editor Charles Ardai doesn’t just publish great crime fiction – he writes it. For proof, check out his short story from last summer’s DEATH DO US PART anthology: “The Home Front,” which recently earned him an Edgar Award.

Better yet, grab his new novel SONGS OF INNOCENCE, written under his pseudonym of Richard Aleas. It isn’t just great – it’s phenomenal. Easily, this is the best crime novel 2007 has given us thus far. Having never read him in long form before, I had my doubts. I should’ve known better; when it comes to criminal acts on the printed page, the man clearly knows what works.

It’s an unusual kind of detective novel in that the protagonist has long since given up being a detective. John Blake, reeling from the death of his first love, gets a low-paying job at New York’s Columbia University because it allows him to take courses for free, which will help him figure out what he wants to do with his life. He takes a spark to a creative writing class, but that’s mostly because of his assigned partner: a gorgeous, freckled-face coed named Dorrie.

In working on assignments together, they get to know each other well. Very well. In fact, so well that she reveals how she pays for tuition: via a job as a – insert wink/nudge here – “massage therapist.” When Dorrie turns up dead, it looks like a suicide, but Blake knows better. Her mother doesn’t believe she offed herself, either, and she wants Blake to look into it.

He refuses to take her money, referring her to someone else, but only so he can follow leads without her meddling. After all, he’s doing it not for her mother, but for Dorrie and himself. His informal investigation will take him into some of New York’s darkest places: tunnels underneath campus, hangouts of homicidal Hungarian thugs, dingy parlors that specialize in anonymous handjobs, Korean spas that serve as a haven for swingers, and ultimately, Blake’s own soul.

Ardai pulls off a remarkable number of things with this intoxicating novel. One is making Dorrie completely sympathetic, even though she’s just one step above your average street hooker. Another is achieving the same with the ever-pessimistic Blake, even when his emotions, actions and allegiances seem to veer with the to-and-fro of a roller coaster. And yet another is building to a promised shock ending that actually is. This isn’t a book that concludes with everything wrapped up in a pretty bow, but what resolution there is feels dead-on.

Even with the subject matter as dark as it is, INNOCENCE is a joy to read, with a strong flow of suspense and extremely well-developed characters who speak dialogue that is believable. Pieces of the novel – particulary toward the end – reminded me strongly of A CASE OF NEED, which Michael Crichton wrote in 1968 under a pen name, and one that went on to win an Edgar for the year’s best novel. It would not surprise me if SONGS OF INNOCENCE did the same.

The good news: Even though INNOCENCE is a sequel to Aradi/Aleas’ LITTLE GIRL LOST of three years ago, reading it is not a prerequisite for this one. I haven’t read LOST yet, but was by no means at a disadvantage.

The bad news: You’re still reading this review instead of the book. –Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THESE AUTHORS:
• THE RETURN OF THE BLACK WIDOWERS by Isaac Asimov, edited by Charles Ardai