A Story of Bad
emkraussauthor@sbcglobal.net
Edward M. Krauss is a writer and mediator living in Columbus, Ohio. He is author of three novels: Solomon the Accountant, a gentle love story set in a middle-class Jewish community in 1950; Here on Moon, a story of deceit, divorce, and recovery; and A Story of Bad, two stories wound together, a murder mystery and a love story. He is also co-author of ON BEING THE BOSS, a book about effective crises management and the U.S. Constitution’s application in the workplace.
Recognition:
North American Bookdealers Exchange Pinnacle Book Achievement Award Winner for Fiction
- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Global Authors Publishers (January 2, 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 097980874X
- ISBN-13: 978-0979808746
Edward M. Krauss
A Story of Bad is about a cop and a reporter who become ensnared in a romance as they are caught up in a murder investigation.
The policeman is a homicide detective investigating a murder in a clothing factory. The reporter is a fashion columnist, involved in astory far off her usual beat. With the murder scene their only common ground, they find themselves working together, learning about each other and their dissimilar professions. When a second murder is committed, which may be tied to the first, and the investigation becomes more complicated, so does the relationship. As they grow closer their supervisors are increasingly uncomfortable with the situation, concerned about confidentiality and workplace ethics and politics.
Excerpt from the book:
“So this guy thought he could do this forever, never have a problem. Now suddenly he’s got a big problem, can’t figure out what to do about Victor’s questions, and in the end just kills him. Not really planned, just ran out of time and ideas.”
Terry nodded. “Possible. And the proof is....?”
June smiled. “Search warrant for his apartment. There you find boxes and boxes of potent illegal drugs, money wrapped up in rubber bands, names of contacts and dealers. He confesses in minutes, and they promote you to captain. And you take me to Las Vegas.”
“More than wonderful, except it can’t happen, the search that is. Vegas we can talk about. No search because no warrant, not near enough to get a warrant on, and even if we did I’ll tell you right now there won’t be a gram of drugs in his place. Or a list of the bad guys.”
“Money?”
“Stashed, fake I D and put it in a safe deposit box under a false name, or a storage locker, something like that.”
June put her knife and fork down, sat back in her chair. “So it really works that way, sometimes you’re pretty sure who the bad guy is, but can’t wire tap or get a search warrant because there isn’t enough hard evidence. Like on television. Or the movies.”
“The Constitution of the United States of America. Wonderful document. Occasionally makes this police work a little difficult, it does.”
“So we need to trick him. Or trap him.”
“Well, I’m certainly hoping you’ll keep this out of your story, any mention of our having a prime suspect. Make it a little hard to trap him if he reads about it first in your fine paper.”
“Nope, although I like having a big head start on that story. No, the first story will be just about the victim, and probably something about the police having no clues at the end. Joe and I are writing it together, but no mention of his name, or a clue, or a trap. This is getting exciting.”
A long moment went by, Terry eating, June picking up her knife and fork and resuming. Then “Terry, what?”
Now he put down his utensils and folded his hands in front of him. She knew by now that was his “serious statement coming” posture. “June, there are two people dead, and you’ve identified a strong candidate for one, maybe both of the murders. That’s.... I don’t know, great. Spectacular. But you can’t go any further with this, this is a police investigation, and if we’re going to set a trap you can’t be part of it. For lots of reasons.”
“The newspaper.”
“Yes, you’d be crossing a lot of lines, confusing to think about all of them, and of course I would too. Something goes wrong and we're both in big trouble.”
Review:
The relationship between the police and the media has always been a strange one, but it turning romantic certainly raises some questions. "A Story of Bad" is the tale of a cop and reporter entering into a controversial romance, where they both try to stay loyal to each other and their employers while respecting business ethics and trying to both solve and cover the murder mystery that brought them together in the first place as other chaos erupts all around the them. "A Story of Bad" is a highly recommended and deftly composed mystery and romance blend, for fans of either.
-Midwest Book Review
The policeman is a homicide detective investigating a murder in a clothing factory. The reporter is a fashion columnist, involved in astory far off her usual beat. With the murder scene their only common ground, they find themselves working together, learning about each other and their dissimilar professions. When a second murder is committed, which may be tied to the first, and the investigation becomes more complicated, so does the relationship. As they grow closer their supervisors are increasingly uncomfortable with the situation, concerned about confidentiality and workplace ethics and politics.
Excerpt from the book:
“So this guy thought he could do this forever, never have a problem. Now suddenly he’s got a big problem, can’t figure out what to do about Victor’s questions, and in the end just kills him. Not really planned, just ran out of time and ideas.”
Terry nodded. “Possible. And the proof is....?”
June smiled. “Search warrant for his apartment. There you find boxes and boxes of potent illegal drugs, money wrapped up in rubber bands, names of contacts and dealers. He confesses in minutes, and they promote you to captain. And you take me to Las Vegas.”
“More than wonderful, except it can’t happen, the search that is. Vegas we can talk about. No search because no warrant, not near enough to get a warrant on, and even if we did I’ll tell you right now there won’t be a gram of drugs in his place. Or a list of the bad guys.”
“Money?”
“Stashed, fake I D and put it in a safe deposit box under a false name, or a storage locker, something like that.”
June put her knife and fork down, sat back in her chair. “So it really works that way, sometimes you’re pretty sure who the bad guy is, but can’t wire tap or get a search warrant because there isn’t enough hard evidence. Like on television. Or the movies.”
“The Constitution of the United States of America. Wonderful document. Occasionally makes this police work a little difficult, it does.”
“So we need to trick him. Or trap him.”
“Well, I’m certainly hoping you’ll keep this out of your story, any mention of our having a prime suspect. Make it a little hard to trap him if he reads about it first in your fine paper.”
“Nope, although I like having a big head start on that story. No, the first story will be just about the victim, and probably something about the police having no clues at the end. Joe and I are writing it together, but no mention of his name, or a clue, or a trap. This is getting exciting.”
A long moment went by, Terry eating, June picking up her knife and fork and resuming. Then “Terry, what?”
Now he put down his utensils and folded his hands in front of him. She knew by now that was his “serious statement coming” posture. “June, there are two people dead, and you’ve identified a strong candidate for one, maybe both of the murders. That’s.... I don’t know, great. Spectacular. But you can’t go any further with this, this is a police investigation, and if we’re going to set a trap you can’t be part of it. For lots of reasons.”
“The newspaper.”
“Yes, you’d be crossing a lot of lines, confusing to think about all of them, and of course I would too. Something goes wrong and we're both in big trouble.”
Review:
The relationship between the police and the media has always been a strange one, but it turning romantic certainly raises some questions. "A Story of Bad" is the tale of a cop and reporter entering into a controversial romance, where they both try to stay loyal to each other and their employers while respecting business ethics and trying to both solve and cover the murder mystery that brought them together in the first place as other chaos erupts all around the them. "A Story of Bad" is a highly recommended and deftly composed mystery and romance blend, for fans of either.
-Midwest Book Review
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