Waterworks by E.L. Doctorow

This has the feel of a Gothic tale set in post Civil War New York City. Apparently he wrote this to honor his father's admiration of Edgar Allen Poe (for whom he was named) and he nailed it. McIlvaine, the narrator, is a newspaper editor who is concerned about the disappearance of one of his freelance writers, Martin Pemberton. Suspecting foul play, he begins to interview the other folks in Pemberton's life. The strangeness begins when it becomes apparent that Pemberton believes he has seen his wealthy father who had disowned him but more significantly is supposedly dead. Enter a shady world of deranged doctors seeking a formula for eternal life as well as real characters like Boss Tweed. The final climax happens in dark secretive world hidden in the old waterworks building. There is less history and more mystery in this than in other Doctorow books I have read but the quality writing is still the same.