Some of the 87th Precinct books have a whodunnit aspect to them. This didn't. The team are pretty sure they know who it is early on so this is more of a 'will they get their man or not'? Unless, of course, McBain throws in one of his curveballs.If you like this series, then this one is definitely recommended. Very readable!

They don't write books like this anymore. It's not what I would call great literature, or anything approaching that, but that's not what I was looking for. I wanted entertainment, and that's what I got. The prose was lively. It carried me along. There were interesting and unexpected turns of events. I got this book out of the freebie bin at the local library. I'm going to go looking for more.

COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century North American Crime BOOK/Novella 135 (of 250)I like to include at least 2 types of work by authors having a large output. This is the only novella-length work I could find by Ed McBain.HOOK - 4: "I'm very glad she's dead," the man said. He wore a homburg, muffler...His eyes were clear....distinctly free of pain or grief. Detective Steve Carella wasn't sure he had heard the man correctly. "Sir," Carella said, I'm sure I don't have to tell you-"...the man said "My wife...

No crime writer will ever do it better

I'm a fan of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series, and must have read about two-thirds of them over the decades since being introduced to them at the age of maybe 14. Some of them, of course, I read so very long ago that nowadays, when I pick them up, I have little or no memory of them beyond at most a vague recollection that I perhaps especially liked this one or that one. I remember quite enjoying Sadie When She Died back in the day, and from time to time as I read it a few days ago I'd have a fla...

Victim Sarah Fletcher has a knife in her chest, and her husband lawyer Gerald tells Steve Carella that he is glad she is dead. Despite a confession in Chapter 2, Carella is sure that the husband is guilty and starts to investigate further, discovering that Sarah is acutally a precursor to Looking for Mr. Goodbar, published a few years later. Meanwhile, Bert Kling is having relationship problems with Cindy and dating a witness from this case. Probably 2.5 stars.

I don't think anyone has ever written better dialogue than Ed McBain. Maybe Elmore Leonard, Lucia Berlin, AM Homes, Thom Jones, George Saunders, Nicola Barker, Chandler et al are on a par, but McBain's is so good that you never have a single moment's opportunity to question whether his characters are real or not - they're realer than most people I know. A master.'Phil was the doorman. He was very good on times and things like that. He was also a garrulous lonely old man who welcomed the opportun...

It's the Christmas season and in sharp contrast to the joyful tidings attendant to this time of year, the detectives of the 87th Precinct are called to an apartment occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Fletcher. Mr. Fletcher greets them by announcing that he's just returned from a business trip. Mrs. Fletcher is lying dead on the floor, having been savagely stabbed to death.The kitchen window is open on a twelve-degree night and there are muddy footprints leading from the window to the bedroom. The b...

Another strong Precinct story, set just before Christmas, with Carella pursuing a case for murder and Kling having a hard time in the sub-plot

When feeling disappointed with my last read I often turn to the 87th. Again they have not let me down. Short easy read with no nonsense tell it as it is style. Steve Carella and Bert Kling are the featured pairing when a lawyer Gerry Fletcher reports arriving home to find his wife stabbed to death and his silverware taken. This looks an open and shut case when a drug addict is seized and admits to the killing. Steve is not satisfied and sets about find out exactly what had happened. Meanwhile Kl...

Entertaining stuff from the venerable McBain, who wrote something like 4 million books featuring his 87th precinct, though the ending was kind of flat and telegraphed from the beginning. Will definitely revisit this series.

You may remember me giving up on the 87th Precinct books because they were predictable and ALWAYS had an element of the case that involved a friend or relative of the detectives investigating, sadly this one was no different. So why did I read another one? I had a good enough reasons. 1) H.R.F. Keating picked it as his favourite of all the 87th Precinct books in his Crime and Mystery: The 100 Best Books.2) Of all the Ed McBain novels I sold recently this was the one they wouldn't take because th...

Somehow I read this book out of out of order, reading #27 first. Still, this marks the half way point for me, having now read 27 of the 54 books in the series.A murder and a quickly caught perpetrator makes it look like an open and shut case. But as always, things are not as simple as they at first seem. Several interesting characters surrounding the victim muddy the waters even further. There is also some new developments in the ongoing saga of Det. Burt Kling's romantic life. A pretty good boo...

Steve Carella and Bert Kling catch a murder case that seems cut and dried during the run up to Christmas. An enjoyable quick read.

From the master of police procedurals, one of his absolute best.

What McBain does so well is create a vibe for the city and the police station. Easy to say, but hard to do. So good when he talks about all of those arrested on Christmas Eve, from professional shoplifters to the father who killed his teen daughter for having sex. Just super nice touches. And the main plot centers on a defense attorney who allegedly finds his wife murdered. The husband setups up a type of cat and mouse game with Carella regarding his true role. Fast paced with great dialogue. Mc...

Seasonally appropriate procedural with some mixed up notions of love and addiction and the things that drive men to murder. Poor Bert Kling, so unlucky in love.

I think I may have a very early edition of this, Pan 1974. A friend bought it from the Lincoln Cat Care shop to cheer me up when I was unwell. I have to say that Ed McBain is not a writer I know well nor is this a genre I would necessarily dip into on a frequent basis but I did thoroughly enjoy it although I found the ending a bit of a rush job. Sentences tend to be a little long and rambling for my taste but there is plenty of action and I found it an entertaining read. Favourite part for a gig...

A woman is murdered and her husband is glad, and glad to tell the police that he didn't do it, even though he discovered the body. A good read, although I think I'm just always going to find McBain plots unfocused--so many characters rotating through plots and subplots that never quite connect, more about the life and times of the precinct than anything else.