Culture January 20, 2021

What should a crime novelist write about when there is not much crime to write about anymore? This question weighed on the minds of the crime writers Lee Child, Reggie Nadelson, and George Dawes Green during a dis­cussion in 2009 on New York Public Radio’s The Leonard Lopate Show. Invited to chat about “New York City Thrillers,” the three novelists found themselves instead musing about how the city had become less thrilling over the years. “It’s a very benevolent, peaceful place,” Child noted with a touch of sadness. “New York has changed, I think, in terms of crime. It’s relatively