Ed McBain (1926–2005)

“Here, bludgeoned by poverty, exploited by pushers and thieves and policeman alike, forced into cramped and dirty dwellings, rescued occasionally by the busiest fire department in the entire city, treated like guinea pigs by the social workers, like aliens by the rest of the city, like potential criminals by the police, here were the Puerto Ricans.”


Ed McBain would often begin writing with only a title in mind, then wing it. But here, he had written a story for Manhunt Magazine called Now show more Die in It. He culled from the plot and situation of that story, adapting it to fit this fine second outing for the boys of the 87th Precinct. It is clear from the opening moments that McBain has decided to make the city of Isola a living thing, an additional character which speaks to the reader non-verbally. To this end, the first seven paragraphs contain beautifully descriptive prose likening the city to a woman. McBain also, by design, has made the entire squad room the hero of the series. To that end, he places Carella off-screen in this entry, on vacation. Carella doesn’t return until the very end, just in time to listen to the story about the cats.

A violent mugger calling himself Clifford is running loose in the 87th Precinct. Hal Willis’ efforts to catch him will eventually encompass female officer, Eileen Burke. She will be the bait in an effort to trap Clifford before anyone else takes a sock on the jaw. This is the main story-line, but there is another. This was a device often used by McBain, and it was very rare that there weren’t at least two or three investigations ongoing, keeping it interesting — and realistic — for readers.

Kling, a name readers of the 87th Precinct novels know well, is still a beat cop here. He has no sooner been released from the hospital where he’s recovering from a bullet wound in his shoulder, than an old acquaintance wants him to talk to his young and sexy sister-in-law. When Kling tries to talk with her, she blows him off. Then the teenage knockout gets knocked off. Something clutched in her hand will tie the two cases together.

Bert Kling dates Claire Townsend in this one, but I can’t say more in case you’ve not read any further than The Mugger. Written after Cop Hater, this fills in some of the backstory of characters, as well as being a fine - if early - 87th Precinct novel. Robert B. Parker, Tony Hillerman and Elmore Leonard were all admirers of Ed McBain and his 87th Precinct novels. Yes, these early ones are dated as per police techniques, but they’re terrific reads, and once you’ve read a couple, you’ll be hooked. show less

I've never been a fan of police procedurals. The majority of them tend to be more concerned with showing off the author's knowledge of obscure investigation technique trivia than telling any kind of cohesive, let alone down to earth, story. With this in mind, the only reason I offer for loving the 87th Precinct series, written by the man who practically invented the genre, is that he writes it better than anyone else. If you're sick and tired of the Law & Order clones, maybe you should take show more a step back and check out the series that defined the genre and has yet to be surpassed. And if you've never visited McBain's series, then there is no better place to start than the beginning.

Cop Hater is an able and worthy introduction to the world of the 87th Precinct's Homicide Division, walking the beat of its fictional city for over fifty years. Many book series suffer from weak openings and fluctuations in quality and style that often leave fans recommending later entries as a starting point for new readers. The 87th never felt any such growing pains, and Cop Hater still stands as strong as the 53 that soon followed.

Detective Carella, the anchor of the series, is introduced in this initial outing, along with other long-term cast members including his love interest and future wife Teddy, stoolie Danny the Gimp, Lt. Byrnes, hack journalist Savage, Bert Kling (still a patrolman before earning his detective's badge in The Mugger), angry bull Roger Havilland, and the diminutive but dangerous Hal Willis.

Cop Hater is one of McBain's more direct titles, and covers the plot simply. Someone is killing cops out of the 87th Precinct. A dead cop is always taken seriously by other cops, but things become personal for Carella when the third officer gunned down in cold bloody is his partner Bush, and even more so when newspaper reporter Savage turns his deaf girlfriend Teddy into a prospective target. With nothing more to go on than the killer's motive as a Cop Hater, the race is on to catch the killer before he kills anyone else that Carella cares for, or for that matter. Carella himself.

Many police procedural series try to over-the-top with spectacular crimes or completely outrageous twists and turns, and mind-numbingly technical procedure descriptions. This is territory that where the 87th Precinct never strays into. While McBain does take the time to explain how and why certain aspects of the job are undertaken, he does so not to flog the reader with facts, but to help them understand exactly what the bulls of the 87th are up against. The crimes and characters of the 87th are always believable, interesting, and never fail to ring with a truth and honesty that makes it seem as real as crime in your local papers. Cop Hater embodies this truth as much as any of the other books, despite being written over fifty years ago. The procedures may change over time, but the criminals are cops are still driven by the same beliefs. show less

McBain is in full stride in this psychological thriller. Forget that the "real killer" is pretty easy to spot. The path to the end is so well-wrought, and there is real tension until the inevitable reveal. Although it is a thriller, and very much an 87th Precinct piece, with all the usual wonderful cop and detective banter and humor that makes this series so endearing, there are moments of really good writing that are the work of a mature novelist whose story-telling chops and brilliance of show more execution are on full display. show less

Ed McBain’s Doll is absolutely one of the best in the 87th Precinct series. The opening scene of a woman being slashed to death, while her little girl sits in the next room comforting her doll, is both harrowing and gritty, setting a somewhat darker tone for this entry than many in the series. As with all the 87th Precinct novels, especially the better ones, there is a lot more going on here than the murder and the investigation.

This one follows the death of someone in a previous entry, show more and Kling is so messed up over it he’s about to be booted off the squad. When Carella catches the call of the murder of model Tina Sachs, he requests Kling, hoping he can rehabilitate him and return him to the cop he was before Claire’s death. Fat chance. Kling is surly and cares little about interviewing skills.

When Carella and Kling finally have a blow-up, Carella waffles on bringing someone else with him to check out a lead on the case. Carella decides to go it alone, and next thing you know, his charred body is discovered. It’s up to the grieving boys of the 87th to retrace Carella’s steps, and make sense of how he ended up dead. Kling’s blow-up with Carella, of course, gets plenty of play, since his taking off early ended up with Carella being murdered.

I’m not marking this as a spoiler, but if you've never read the series, or don't know anything about it, you might want to skip this paragraph and drop down to the next. Frankly, especially after all these years, everybody knows Carella is a mainstay of the 87th throughout the entire series, so obviously he isn’t dead. When the boys discover he went back to the crime scene and exited carrying a child’s doll, it makes no sense. Until the violent and shocking end. Before we get there, McBain creates a sadistic femme fatale as memorable and nasty as any in fiction. She makes Ann Savage in Detour look like Doris Day singing in the streets.

This is an absolute pleasure for anyone who enjoys this series. An ex-husband who won’t reveal a secret about the slain model, a man nicknamed Cyclops, and ultimately, a child’s doll, all figure into this one. McBain was a terrific writer and here he is hitting on all cylinders. Gritty, violent and intelligent, an 87th Precinct story you don’t want to miss. show less