The second book in R.G. Belskey's Clare Carlson series. Clare is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist managing a TV news station, and decides to run a "below the fold" story (of lesser importance) about the killing of a homeless woman in an ATM vestibule. This is followed by the vicious beating death of a female sociopath, who is part of a financial scandal and who cut a deal with the Feds, making her a target for many. Left at the scene of the crime is a list of people, including the homeless women, the owner of the TV station, a lawyer who defends mobsters, a former Congressional philanderer, and a NYPD detective, with no apparent connection. Clare digs and digs and starts to figure out the story, but there are several unintended consequences. Belsky's knowledge of the news business shines, as Clare continues to deal with a host of personal and professional issues, as she did in the first book. ( )

This is former newsman Dick Belsky’s second crime story featuring Pulitzer-Prize winning print journalist Clare Carlson, now significantly reduced in career status by working as the news director for Channel 10 television. Clare has a wittily cynical, self-deprecating take on her job and the events and people around her, and the novel begins with her musing on why some deaths—those of blonde white females—matter more than others, at least in the news business. Most of the time.
Clare runs a lively morning news meeting, in which the reporters and staff hammer out which stories to feature that day, absent any even bigger story breaking. On this particular day, Clare’s assignment editor Maggie challenges the team to look a little deeper and discover what was important about the life and death of a person they wouldn’t ordinarily spend time on, a fifty-four-year-old homeless woman stabbed to death in an ATM vestibule. Because Clare rises to the challenge, they discover, over time, just how significant the story of Dora Gayle turns out to be.
The first glimmer there may be more to the homeless woman’s story than they anticipated comes when Grace Mancuso, a woman Gayle’s polar opposite—young, beautiful, wealthy, a stockbroker—is brutally murdered. Beside her body is a list of five names, five people who appear to have nothing in common, who in fact believe they have never even met. The last name on the list is Dora Gayle.
Through Clare’s investigative journalism, Belsky expertly rolls out the stories of all these people, living and dead, and their possible intersections. Except for Gayle, of course, are they suspects in either murder? Potential victims? In the process, Belsky lays down enough red herrings to feed lower Manhattan.
Belsky, who lives and worked in Manhattan for years, knows his setting well, not just its geography, but its culture down to the neighborhood level. You may look up from his pages and be surprised to find yourself somewhere other than Washington Square or the East Village, so thoroughly is this story imbued with the spirit of New York.
It isn’t a spoiler to say that, in the end, the death of Dora Gayle, a death that ordinarily would have been passed over without journalistic notice, started the novel’s engine, bearing out Clare’s advice to her news team that “there’s a story to every murder.” ( )

In Below The Fold, the second book in the Clare Carlson Mystery Series, author R.G. Belsky weaves a riveting mystery tale that easily draws the reader in as New York Channel 10 News Director Clare Carlson investigates the connection between two murder cases that involve high profile New Yorkers.

The story begins with the "below the fold" (news that do not get top play on the front page or TV coverage) murder case of fifty-four year old homeless woman Dora Gayle. Clare wants to find out the real story behind the sad and tragic life of the homeless woman who called herself Cinderella. While Clare is digging into Dora's past, thirty-three year old stockbroker Grace Mancuso was found beaten to death in her Upper East Side apartment. Grace's murder is top news because the murderer left a note mentioning four high profile New Yorkers and homeless woman Dora Gayle! Clare is determined to find the connection between the two murdered women and the other four people. Could they be next on the murderer's hit list, or could one of them possibly be the murderer?

As Clare delves into the investigation she finds that there are more questions than answers, a growing list of suspects, deeply buried secrets, and the intertwining of Clare's personal and professional lives and her dark past that continues to come to the surface.

Below The Fold is a captivating and gritty mystery tale that is rich in detail and vivid descriptions. It has enough intriguing and suspenseful twists and turns that leaves the reader with no other option than to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next. As a diehard fan of mystery tales, I must admit that this story exceeded my expectations. The complexity of the two murder cases and Clare's investigation kept me thoroughly riveted and so engrossed, I couldn't help but try and guess the identity of the murderer as Clare tries to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.

With a complex and realistic cast of characters, the author does a phenomenal job of transporting the reader into this fast-paced white-knuckle storyline. The thrilling cat-n-mouse game engages the reader to follow Clare's investigation as she tries to establish the connection between the high profile New Yorkers with Dora and Grace, and who was responsible for their deaths. The jaw-dropping surprise ending will leave the reader completely speechless. It just doesn't get any better than this!

Below The Fold is one heck of an adrenaline rush that is a must-read for the true diehard mystery junkies!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author/publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest book review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours.

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