Ed McBain

There are a lot of unspeakable things that happen in the big city, and the murder of St. Catherine's Father Birney is one of them. For Detectives Carella and Hawes of the 87th Precinct, finding the killer means taking a journey into the darkest corners of the city's soul. The satanic cult near St. Catherine's parish is the obvious first suspect--but not necessarily the right one. As the detectives investigate the priest's life, they uncover blackmail, old grudges, and hidden motives. When everyone has a secret and the truth hides within the lies, Carella and Hawes must rely on their premier detective work to find the killer. This installment of the author's famed 87th Precinct series is as deep and rich as they come, delivering the goods with unparalleled, brute emotional force.

A young woman stops at the grocery store after work, but she never makes it home--at least not all the way. She is stabbed to death in front of her building, her groceries strewn across the cold pavement. Upstairs her neighbor and popular ghost story author Gregory Craig lay dead as well, stabbed in his apartment. When Craig's publisher is found murdered just days later, Detective Steve Carella has a deadly mystery on his hands, one unlike any he's ever had before. Searching for clues, Carella instead finds Craig's girlfriend, a medium whose spooky predictions keep him guessing. When some leads take him to a "haunted" house on the New England shores, strange events turn even stranger...until, back in the city, he turns up the crucial evidence he needs to track down the killer. A rare twist in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series, Ghosts weaves the haunting uneasiness of the supernatural thriller with a classic, tightly plotted police procedural. Stephen King hails Ghosts as "excellent. It's a fine--and creepy--mystery, and a fine novel."

Detective Bert Kling has had some rough luck with women. First his fianc e Cindy Townsend was gunned down in an infamous bookstore shooting. Then there was Cindy Forrest, who informed him one day that she was in love with a doctor at work--and was gone. Now he's finally hit the jackpot. Kling just married the beautiful model Augusta Blair, and they are about to enjoy the first night of their marriage together...until bad luck catches him again. When Kling gets out of the shower, Augusta is gone, leaving behind one shoe--and cotton soaked in chloroform. Even harder than calling Detective Steve Carella with the news is standing on the sidelines while the rest of the men do all the work. But he'll have to--or he'll never see her alive again. A spine-tingling race against time as the detectives of the 87th do what they do best, So Long as You Both Shall Live is an extraordinary addition to the series, an Ed McBain masterpiece that marries taut police procedure with the personal stakes of a man who stands to lose everything--again.

In the middle of a stifling heat wave, why would an artist intent on committing suicide turn his air conditioning off before taking his life? That's the question troubling Detectives Steve Carella and Bert Kling until more personal--and deadly--questions threaten to tear Kling's life apart. Certain his wife, Augusta, is cheating on him, Kling sets out on a course from which there is no turning back. Meanwhile a dangerous killer from his past begins a similar path destined to end in retribution. As Carella's case of the mysterious suicide unravels, Kling's personal life explodes in pain and violence. An Ed McBain classic, this installment of his famed 87th Precinct series is a triple threat as the three storylines weave together with relentless momentum, culminating in a shattering climax that tears open the heart of one of the precinct's finest.

A con man is plying his trade on the streets of Isola: conning a domestic for pocket change, businessmen for thousands, and even ladies in exchange for a little bit of love. You can see the world, meet a lot of nice people, imbibe some unique drinks, and make a ton of money...all by conning them for their cash. The question is: How far is he willing to go? When a young woman's body washes up in the Harb River, the answer to that question becomes tragically clear. Now Detective Steve Carella races against time to find him before another con turns deadly. The only clue he has to go on is the mysterious tattoo on the young woman's hand--but it's enough. Carella takes to the streets, searching its darkest corners for a man who cons his victims out of their money...and their lives. A crime fiction classic, The Con Man is the third book in the 87th Precinct series from Ed McBain, whom the Daily Mirror hails as "the undisputed master...There's nobody who does it better."

This mugger is special. He preys on women, waiting in the darkness...then comes from behind, attacks them, and snatches their purses. He tells them not to scream and as they're on the ground, reeling with pain and fear, he bows and nonchalantly says, "Clifford thanks you, madam." But when he puts one victim in the hospital and the next in the morgue, the detectives of the 87th Precinct are not amused and will stop at nothing to bring him to justice. Dashing young patrolman Bert Kling is always there to help a friend. And when a friend's sister-in-law is the mugger's murder victim, Bert's personal reasons to find the maniacal killer soon become a burning obsession...and it could easily get him killed. The second book in the 87th Precinct series, The Mugger is an Ed McBain classic, a nuanced portrayal of justice and vengeance hailed by the Daily Mirror as "a masterpiece of crime writing...and there's nobody who does it better."

For a wealthy businessman, a kidnapping puts him in a predicament as troubling as any he has ever experienced. For Detective Steve Carella and the men at the 87th Precinct, their troubles are even worse. Their only hope is that he will play ball--at least long enough for them to catch the perps before the kidnapping turns into a homicide.Ed McBain delivers another rapid-fire nail-biter in his 87th Precinct series with King's Ransom, a morally complex weaving of friendship, personal responsibility, and the nature of man hailed by the Daily Mirror "McBain spins the tightest tale in town...there's nobody who does it better." King's Ransom was made into the major motion picture High and Low by acclaimed director Akira Kurasawa.

Emma Bowles, wife of successful businessman Martin Bowles, discovers that her life is in danger. To ease her mind, Martin hires Denker, an out-of-town bodyguard, to protect her from harm. Which is good--except she suffers two near-fatal accidents on Denker's watch. Unsure of anything anymore, she does the only sensible thing a damsel in distress can do: she calls on the detectives of the 87th Precinct.Detectives Steve Carella and Meyer Meyer are quickly suspicious of the entire setup--and of Denker in particular. Meanwhile the dramatic events surrounding the murder of Carella's father are finally revealed...Torn between personal tragedy and the day-to-day of his job, Carella struggles to find an attempted murderer while he desperately searches for the solace he needs to carry on.A fascinating performance from crime fiction icon Ed McBain, Kiss takes the gritty glare of his famed 87th Precinct and focuses intensely on personal struggles as well as the nature of justice.

The only person Detective Bert Kling cares about in this world is his fianc e, Claire Townsend. And when her body is found slain at the infamous "bookstore massacre," Bert and every detective in the precinct is determined to get the man responsible. To do so, they're going to have to figure out the connection between a junkie, a professor, a bookstore owner, and the beautiful fianc e of a cop. When they do, there will be nowhere for the killer to hide.A devastating look at the personal side of a hardened detective, Lady, Lady, I Did It is a gut-wrenching addition to Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series, and it paints in sharp relief the squadroom's familial bonds and the price paid for violating its sanctity.

One night. One shift. No rest. Featuring the 87th Precinct's entire cast of characters, this Halloween takes them into the darkest corners of depravity the city has to offer. And sometimes, surviving is the greatest treat of them all.From a liquor store hold-up ending with a dead owner and four costumed "kids" making off with the money to the pieces of a man showing up around the city, the Day of the Dead is turning the streets into a carnival of violence and murder. Meanwhile, a magician disappears in a stunning final act, and Detective First Class Eileen Burke poses as a hooker to lure in a serial killer. The question is, will the detectives all live to see the dawn of November?Newsweek declares bestselling author Ed McBain "has virtually reinvented the police procedural." Interweaving rich characters, taut plotting, and sharp dialogue, Tricks is a multi-character masterpiece.

All at once, Fat Ollie Weeks had a truly brilliant idea... But as any "real" writer could tell you, that's how inspiration strikes -- with the sudden force of a violent crime. Known more for his foul mouth and short temper than his way with words, Detective Weeks has written a novel. But just as Isola is rocked by the murder of a mayoral candidate, the only copy of Ollie's manuscript is stolen -- and an all-too-real adventure begins as a thief follows Ollie's fictional blueprint to find a $2 million cache of nonexistent diamonds. Now, the 87th Precinct races to bring poetic justice to a cold-blooded assassin -- and someone's about to add another chapter to the colorful career of Ollie Weeks, a cop who's never played by the book....

The kidnapping was audacious, and there were plenty of witnesses... But no one attending the dazzling launch party for up-and-coming pop idol Tamar Valparaiso knew what they were seeing when, halfway through her performance, masked men whisked the sexy young singer off a luxury yacht and into a waiting speedboat. Now, the evening that was supposed to send Tamar's debut album, "Bandersnatch, " skyrocketing with a million-dollar promotional campaign has instead kicked off a terrifying countdown for Steve Carella and the detectives of the 87th Precinct. Time is their enemy in the race to find Tamar's abductors -- before the rising star is extinguished forever.

The most consistent of all series in terms of language control, length, and quality of story. David R. Hill, Director of the Edinburgh Project on Extensive Reading.

Ed McBain made his debut in 1956. In 2004, more than a hundred books later, he personally collected twenty-five of his stories written before that time. All but five of them were first published in the detective magazine Manhunt and none of them appeared under the Ed McBain byline. Here are kids in trouble and women in jeopardy. Here are private eyes and gangs. Here are loose cannons and innocent bystanders. Here, too, are cops and robbers. These are the stories that prepared Ed McBain to write the beloved 87th Precinct novels. In individual introductions, McBain tells how and why he wrote these stories that were the start of his legendary career.

This installment in the 87th Precinct series finds the detectives stumped by a serial killer who doesn't fit the profile. A blind violinist taking a smoke break, a cosmetics sales rep cooking an omelet in her own kitchen, a college professor trudging home from class, a priest contemplating retirement in the rectory garden, an old woman out walking her dog--these are the seemingly random targets shot twice in the face. But most serial killers don't use guns. Most serial killers don't strike five times in two weeks. And most serial killers' prey share something more than being over fifty years of age. Now it falls to Detective Steve Carella and his colleagues in the 87th Precinct to find out what-or whom-the victims had in common before another body is found. With trademark wit and sizzling dialogue, McBain unravels a mystery and examines the dreams we chase in the darkening hours before the fiddlers have fled.

Six victims. Same gun. No link. The final 87th Precinct novel from the master...It started with the blind violinist - shot twice through the head at point-blank range in the alley outside his dingy restaurant. But it's only when the omelette lady gets shot with the same gun in the same way twenty-four hours later that the 87th Precinct really starts to sit up and take notice.But Steve Carella and the boys at the Precinct always seem to be one step behind the killer, and are unable to prevent the death toll rising. The trouble is, while the gun is the same, none of the victims seem to be related in any way. And why is the killer heard to introduce himself as 'Chuck' before pumping two bullets into their bodies?FIDDLERS is a brilliantly twisting puzzle of a book where nothing is as it seems and the pace never lets up - Ed McBain at his very best.

The first in a brand new series from the crime master himself, Ed McBain.

The brilliant new 87th precinct novel from one of crime's enduring legends...Gloria Stanford was very sexy, very rich and very, very dead. Found in her plush, city apartment, she had been shot twice in the heart. All her credit cards and ID were gone but apart from that there seemed no motive at all. It's only when the detective-in-charge, Steve Carella, starts to receive bizarre cryptic notes in the mail that he realises something bigger than a simple homicide is going on. It seems the Deaf Man is back - a notorious crook and killer who has a morbid fascination with puzzles and anagrams. Long thought dead, he's back on the loose and wants his long-hidden millions back.

The brand new 87th Precinct Novel from the master himself - Ed McBain.

Another 87th precinct novel from 'the undisputed master - and there's nobody who does it better' DAILY MIRROR