Hark! – Ed McBain

©2004 Simon & Schuster, New York

As police procedurals go, you cannot beat a good 87^th Precinct novel. It’s just fun to follow the everyday goings-on as the police decipher each bit of evidence that comes their way. And nobody seems to tell the tale better than the late Ed McBain could. The stories are generally well-written and easy to read.

Hark! follows the guys at the eight-seven as they unravel the murder of Gloria Stanford (an Americanized anagram of her German “Antsdorf”). The use of the anagram to change her name gave her murderer, who turns out to be Adam Fen (another anagram for the recurring nemesis of Carella, Kling and the boys—the Deaf Man), the ingenious idea of how to confuse and be-muddle the detectives of the 87^th squad.

Though the murder gets the ball rolling, the major crime is a big pay-off for the Deaf Man who weaves a Shakespearean web by sending quotes from the Bard to at the same time tell the police about the crime he intends to commit and confuse them as well.

While this is a good diversion for a few hours’ reading, Hark! does have its draw-backs. Thrown into the mix of the on-going daily calls that we see in the 87^th are the developing/dying relationships between various cops on the squad. And then Carella is distracted by the upcoming double wedding of his widowed mother to an Italian furniture mogul from Milan and his sister to the assistant DA who let their father’s murderer get away with the crime.

Even these distractions don’t hurt the telling of the story—at least not too much anyway. Again, those who like police procedurals in the line of Hill Street Blues and Blue Bloods will have a nice time with this 87^th Precinct story. Four out of five reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter, September 15, 2012

Sadie When She Died – Ed McBain

© 1972, New American Library, New York (1^st Signet printing August 1973)

I picked up yet another episode involving the 87^th Precinct boys not long ago. These little paperbacks are always good when you’re trying to escape after a hard day on the job, or if you’ve had to read a bunch of deep-thinking material. Why? Because their well-written escape literature. Ed McBain was probably one of the premier police proceeduralists (sure, it’s a word—and if it’s not, it ought to be) in the business.

Gerald Fletcher has found his wife dead in the bedroom when he returns home from a business trip. And he’s happy. The defense lawyer has no qualms about telling detective Steve Carella his real feelings about the deceased. And Carella can’t let go of the nagging feeling that Fletcher did it, even when they have a confession from the junkie-turned-burglar who happened to surprise the dead Mrs. Fletcher in the apartment which was his first job.

Carella’s investigation turns up some tawdry secrets about Sarah (or Sadie as she’s known in the seedy bars of the city), and her little black book leads him to the actual killer. Fellow members on the 87^th squad help out with the investigation, and Bert Kling (crest-fallen from being dumped by the love of his life), has not only a new romance on his hands, but an excellent side mystery that almost gets him killed (and does land him in a hospital bed).

The fact that this mystery takes place in the city at Christmastime is another plus for me. And it could be for you, too. Pick up a copy at your local used bookstore. I think you’ll like it. (5 reading glasses)

—Benjamin Potter, July 28, 2010

Fuzz – Ed McBain

© 1968, New American Library, New York (1^st Signet printing September 1969)

Ed McBain is always good for a leisure read. Especially when he takes us to the imaginary city housed between the covers of an 87^th Precinct novel. Fuzz has all the things that make a police procedural good: harsh weather, major crimes, on-going investigations, and comic relief.

In the midst of the coldest March on record, the city has decided to paint the precinct squadroom. With the bad vaudeville routine proffered by the painters going on all around them, the bulls of the 87^th begin receiving extortion threats against city officials via phone and hand-delivered packages. The culprit, we discover to be the Deaf Man, is an old nemesis for Carella, Meyer, Hawes, and the boys; one who we’ve assumed was dead because in their last encounter he jumped from a bridge in the River Dix.

Solving this crime spree and catching the Deaf Man will take all the combined brain power of every cop on the squad. Throw in an ongoing case in which the detectives need to catch some hoods who are regularly lighting bums on fire in alleys and back doorways, and the prospect of an upcoming robbery, and you wonder if they can ever get the job done. Not to mention the distraction of a new novel entitled Meyer Meyer which obviously has one of the detectives up in arms.

Find a copy of Fuzz and enjoy a couple of hours helping them solve some crime. And give them four out of five reading glasses while you’re at it.

—Benjamin Potter, April 5, 2010

Cop Hater – Ed McBain

© 1956, New American Library, New York (1st Signet printing October 1973)

I knew that I’d found a copy of Ed McBain’s first 87th Precinct novel at this year’s book fair. Somehow it was misplaced for a couple of months, but I found it, and it is a superb introduction to the boys of the 87th Precinct.

In this early installment by the master of police procedural writing detective Steve Carella and company find themselves investigating the senseless murder of their colleague Mike Reardon. The early murder of this cop is followed quickly by the death of his partner David Foster, and culminating in the murder of Carella’s own partner Hank Bush. Who is the cop hater that’s killing off the 87th? Is it members of the gang known as The Grovers? Is it an old con, just released from prison after having been put away by one or more of the dead cops? Is it a recently released headcase? Or just a lunatic who has it out for cops?

This gem, besides introducing us to Carella and Lt. Byrnes, also provides some of the back story for Carella’s relationship with his wife, Teddy—a character who provides some relief from the mundane daily grind of police detection for both Carella and the reader. Again I highly recommend this installment from the 87th. Five reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter, October 26, 2009

Bread – Ed McBain

© 1974, Avon Books, New York (1st Avon printing July 1987)

At least part of the boys from the 87th Precinct are at it again. Bread is set in August just after Steve Carella has returned from vacation, and it seems that almost everyone else has left for theirs. In the heat of late summer, Roger Grimm has stopped by to see what progress has been made on the arson investigation that started before the lead detective went on vacation. Carella agrees to look into it (even though it’s not his case) and inherits the case when the crime becomes the murder of the “inside” man.

McBain has another police procedural winner on his hand with Bread. This one includes two fires, two murders, a beating, and a look at racism from the policeman’s side of the equation.

Bread is a good summer diversion—or any other time for that matter. Four reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter, September 30, 2009

Shotgun – Ed McBain

©1969 Signet, New York

I’ve found a new “go to” collection whenever I’ve run out of good reading material—or when I’m waiting on the next “must read” to hit the streets. I found them down at the 87th Precinct.

Shotgun is another masterful procedural that makes you know that somebody in the seventies and eighties was reading McBain. How else could we explain the resemblance that shows like Hill Street Blues had to the boys in blue at the 87th? At any rate, true to form, Shotgun opens on the scene of a bloody murder—not just a murder but a double murder, and Carella and Kling swing into action.

I think what makes these books work so well is that it doesn’t focus so much on the cops as it does on the crime. True, the cops are the ones that solve the crime, but it is the solving of the crime that is the star of the show. In this case, Andrew and Rosie Leyden have been murdered in their uptown apartment. Not just any murder, but murdered with a shotgun. Not just any murder with a shotgun, but two blasts each to the face. As an afterthought, the murderer tried to make the husband look like a murderer turned suicidist. The job is a sloppy one, though that will not fool even the greenest of beat cops.

Shotgun is a fast read that will while away a few moments when you don’t want to think, but don’t mind a puzzle. Prop up your feet and grab a paperback reissue of an 87th Precinct novel and you’ll enjoy a good story. Shotgun would be a good choice. Four out of five reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter, December 15, 2008

Killer’s Choice – Ed McBain

©1958 Dell, New York

Ed McBain. The name strikes a chord in the hearts of mystery lovers everywhere. Of course, we know that it’s one of the more notable pseudonyms for celebrated novelist Evan Hunter. Still, along with the name our minds jump to the 87^th Precinct.

Killer’s Choice is one of McBain’s 87^th Precinct stories, and it is an excellent example of why the author enjoyed celebrity as one of the foremost crafters of the police procedural.

The book opens at the crime scene involving the murder of Anne Boone and the wanton destruction of the liquor store where she worked. It is easy to get lost in the pages of the story while following the detectives of the 87^th squad. Carella and Kling question suspect after suspect. Among them are the boss, the ex-husband, and a variety of boyfriends. Throw into the mix a green transfer from the much more genteel 30^th with a crazy moniker like Cotton Hawes who must redeem a blunder by finding the punk who killed fellow detective Havilland and you have great mystery reading.

Finding Annie’s killer turns out to be a chore that involves a variety of the bulls of the 87^th because the suspects’ alibis are air-tight, and with every new suspect we discover a new Annie Boone.

Once or twice the dialogue slows down because the book was written at another time, but generally the read is very forthright. McBain shows why people love his police procedurals with just the right amount of repetition and just the right amount of personality. Typical of the descriptive passage is the set-up of Stewart City:

Stewart City had been named after British royalty. It was a compact little area of Isola, running for perhaps three square blocks midtown, three square blocks that hugged the curve of the River Dix Stewart City had been named after British royalty, and the apartment buildings which faced the river in terraced luxury were indeed royal.

The mystery unfolds pleasantly with just such descriptions and tight concise dialog that includes both interviews of witnesses, suspects and various other characters and the daily banter that occurs between the bulls of the 87^th squad room that make life bearable.

Killer’s Choice was my first 87^th Precinct novel (though I’ve long wanted to read some of Hunter’s or McBain’s writing), and you can bet it won’t be my last. It’s just entertaining police work. (Four out of five reading glasses.) Though I’ve come late to the precinct and (sadly) McBain shuffled out of his mortal coil, I can relish the fact that I have a whole new set of mysteries to keep me busy when my favorites are between publishing dates.

—Benjamin Potter, December 2, 2008