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An 87th Precinct novel -- Certain that someone is trying to kill her, Emma Bowles turns to another killer for protection, and only a dedicated cop trapped in a defective legal system can save her.Tags
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I was thinking this might only be a 3 star read, but the end comes together absolutely beautifully and resolved the misgivings I had. There are 2 plots going on here. One a personal about Carella that allows McBain to flex his courtroom drama muscles. The other is a really noirish tale that involves the bulls investigating attempts on the life of a wealthy woman. As a result you kind of get 3 books in one - a bit of Grisham, a bit of James M Cain and McBain’s normal humour and painstaking procedural detail holding it all together. Creaking stuff.
This book begins with two attempts on Emma Bowles life. And it also begins with the trial of the man who killed Detective Carella’s father, which happened in the previous installment of this series. It ends with a nice little plot twist, to the Emma Bowles story. Not so much for Carella...
This was a good page turner, with lots of courtroom procedure and quite a bit of detective work on the active murder case. The title comes from some of the song lyrics printed within. Or maybe, it's about the kiss of death. Still and all, a good read!
This was a good page turner, with lots of courtroom procedure and quite a bit of detective work on the active murder case. The title comes from some of the song lyrics printed within. Or maybe, it's about the kiss of death. Still and all, a good read!
A woman comes to the 87th Precinct to report two attempts on her life, including recognizing the attempted killer as her husband's former limo driver. When he shows up shot and strung up, Fat Ollie Weeks pushes the case off to the 87th. The husband then hires a private eye to protect his wife as the 87th Street detectives start to investigate. Meanwhile, the trial for the killer of Steve Carella's father occurs simultaneously. The wife then sleeps with the private eye to get even with her philandering husband before he can do what he was initially hired to do.
2.5 - I think I'm just indifferent to this particular detective story. I have enjoyed Ed McBain in the past, he writes crime as good as the next author. I think it just didn't have enough meat to keep me interested.
A good read for McBain fans. The man is amazingly consistent. This one has some really interesting plot twists.
Sempre 87° distretto, nella sua NY City mascherata. Un giallo che scorre, al solito, con sorprese finali e pochi moralismi.
Carella's father's killer found not-guilty, man hires man to kill his wife and she manages to turn the tables
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Author Information
365+ Works 32,436 Members
Ed McBain is a pen name for Evan Hunter who was born in 1926 in East Harlem, New York on October 15, 1926. Hunter was born with the name Salvatore Albert Lombino, and he legally adopted the name Evan Hunter in 1952. During World War II, Hunter joined the Navy and served aboard a destroyer in the Pacific. He graduated from Hunter College, were he show more majored in English and psychology, with minors in dramatics and education. He was a prolific writer who also wrote under the names of Ed McBain, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, and Richard Marsten. His first major success came in 1954 with the publication of The Blackboard Jungle, which was later adapted as a film. He published the first three books in the 87th Precinct series in 1956 under the name of Ed McBain. He also wrote juvenile books, plays, television scripts, and stories and articles for magazines. He won the Mystery Writers of America Award in 1957 and the Grand Master Award in 1986 for lifetime achievement. He died of laryngeal cancer on July 6, 2005 at the age of 78. (Bowker Author Biography) Ed McBain is the only American to receive the Diamond Dagger, the British Crime Writers Association's highest award. He also holds the Mystery Writers of America's coveted Grand Master Award. His books have sold over one hundred million copies, ranging from his most recent, "The Last Dance", to the bestselling "The Blackboard Jungle", the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" & the bestselling "Privileged Conversation", written under his own name, Evan Hunter. He lives in Connecticut. (Publisher Provided) Ed McBain, aka Evan Hunter, wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and has written many novels. He is the only American to be awarded Britain's coveted Diamond Dagger Award, the highest honor a suspense writer can achieve. He lives in Connecticut. (Publisher Provided) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Kiss
- Original title
- Kiss
- Original publication date
- 1992
- People/Characters
- Steve Carella; Martin Bowles; Meyer Meyer; Andy Parker; Fat Ollie Weeks; Bert Kling (show all 9); Emma Bowles; Martin Bowles; Andrew Nelson Denker
- Important places
- The City
- Dedication
- This is for my wife Mary Vane - who worked so very hard for it
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Statistics
- Members
- 504
- Popularity
- 59,571
- Reviews
- 8
- Rating
- (3.41)
- Languages
- 11 — Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Portuguese, Croatian, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 42
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 10
