'Til Death

A good, old-fashioned police procedural, with an only slightly absurd starting point. Detective Steve Carella’s sister is getting married, and at least three people have a potential motive to bump off the bridegroom. Throw in a couple of armed trombonists and a blonde with a Magnum in her handbag, and it promises to be a celebration that will keep the men of the 87th Precinct busy.
Interesting to see the period touches, like the way the men keep bonding over their service histories in Korea or the Pacific, and the way a pursuit relies on asking the kids on the street corners rather than CCTV footage…
This is pure entertainment from one of the legends of crime writing. Obviously it feels rather skimpy compared to more recent crime show more writers who are trying to make a point about the evils of society, but it’s very professionally executed. show less

Dick Hill is a maestro of a reader, not only capturing McBain's laconic narration, as wry as a field full of grain, but also a plethora of distinct voices enagaged in various types of sharp or meandering or believably dumb dialogue. McBain cranks the suspense as Carella's sister's wedding is besieged by an unreal amount of attempted murders.

This is a tightly plotted, fast-paced entry in the 87th Precinct series, likely because it’s one of the earlier books in the series. It takes place in the space of a day—Carella’s sister Angela’s wedding day, in fact—and there aren’t many, if any, loose ends. This was first published in 1959, so there are some cringe-and-a-half male-gaze narrative bits, particularly with regard to Oona and Christine.

Ed McBain. Azt hittem, ilyen névvel csak kemény krimit lehet írni. Ha már úgy kopognak benne a betűk, akár a földre hulló réz töltényhüvelyek. De nem. Ez egy tinglitangli. Kezdjük ott, hogy az egész sztorinak a nyomozó húgának esküvője ad keretet. Sőt, még a nyomozó felesége is mindenórás terhes. Ajvé! Fogadjunk egy ezresbe, hogy a lehető legrosszabbkor folyik el a magzatvíz! Az ügy maga kellően komolynak tűnik - valaki ki akarja nyírni a vőlegényt. Ami szívás, ilyenkor a rendőri kézikönyv, ha jól sejtem, a lakodalom halasztását irányozza elő, de nyomozónk, Carella nem reszkírozza meg ezt a botrányt. Inkább pár kollégával elvegyül a násznépben, kedélyeskednek, táncikálnak, de show more sasszemük a potenciális gyilkost keresi. A szálak meg bonyolódnak, mert a szálak azok olyanok.

Tipikus egyszerolvasós könyv. Fáj azonban, hogy ennek a Carellának se íze, se bűze. Egyetlen érdekesség vele kapcsolatban, hogy a felesége süketnéma. Bezzeg ha Carella lenne az! Meg is emelném a kalapom! A többi zsaru se egy nagy etvasz (a legerősebb jelző, amit használni merek velük kapcsolatban, az "aranyos"), lelkiismeretesen loholnak a nyomok után, mi meg drukkolunk, hogy időben odaérjenek, ahová kell. Nem mondanám amúgy, hogy túl nehéz dolguk van - ahogy az olvasó sincs megizzasztva. McBain ugyan megkísérel elterelő szálakat szőni a sztoriba, hogy megzavarjon minket, de olyan átlátszóan teszi, komolyan, helyenként azt érzem, nagyon alacsonyra kalibrálja a krimiolvasói intellektust. Inkább a lendületesen végigvitt akcióra meg a visszafogottan jópofa zsarufigurákra épít, mint a rejtélyre. Sőt, ami azt illeti, a rejtélye igazából nem is rejtély. A rejtély nélküli detektívregény pedig sótlan leves, hús nélkül. show less

Steve Carella's younger sister is getting married, but there are deadly plans beyond the ceremony and reception, and his sister and future brother-in-law are at the center of the potentially fatal plot.

'Til Death takes place in June, roughly nine months after Killer's Wedge.

Another race-against-time story, this one succeeds to ramp the tension up a bit more than Lady Killer did, although this might have less to do with the quality of the story than it does the personal connections the majority of the characters share. The plot actually plays a bit too much like your typical murder-mysteries of the time, and the only thing that really separates it from the rest is the cast of the 87th as they get involved at Carella's behest.

In response show more to a cryptic death threat received by his sister's fiance, Carella convinces Hawes and Kling to attend the wedding on their day off, while Meyer and O'Brian track down leads at the station and on the town. Add Hawes' date (Christina, the book store owner he questioned back in Lady Killer) and a very expecting Teddy to the multiple suspects and murder attempts flooding the scene, and the story begins to feel as crowded and hectic as an actual wedding party.

The most interesting aspect of this story, however, might be the femme fatale Oona, who proves to be one of the more brutal and vicious characters to grace the pages of the 87th. Indeed, Oona's savage beating of Hawes and her bestial attacks that prove nearly as deadly as her looks makes her an overpowering force to be reckoned with. Coming on the heels of the cold and calculating revenge seeking widow that brutally assaulted several members of the squad in Killer's Wedge, it is hard to ignore McBain's recent habit of shoving overwhelmingly evil and abusive women into the lead heavy role, an act that one would be tempted to label as misogynistic if it weren't leveled by the all too human and sympathetic females that make up the vast population of The City. show less

The 9th book in Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series may be the weakest link in the chain so far. The beginning is promising: Detective Steve Carella’s sister is getting married and on the morning of her wedding day, her groom is sent a box. Inside the box is a black widow spider. But it goes down from there – the threat is never quite threatening enough, and the villains not quite villainous enough. Though McBain is sufficiently liberal for the 1950s (he has likeable characters from various ethnic groups) the book slips over into Mickey Spillane territory in its depiction of women. And it becomes increasingly clear by this point that McBain hasn’t figured out a way for Carella’s wife Teddy, a deaf-mute, to communicate in any show more other way than very basic facial expressions. Some of this will change as the series progresses, but this book more than most of the other early ones, is very much of its time — unfortunately. show less

Steve Carella's sister is getting married! But someone doesn't seem to want her groom to survive their wedding day, giving a whole new meaning to the phrase " 'til death do us part"! To add even more pressure to events, Steve’s wife is close to delivering their first child!

A good, quick read, that really moves along at a nice clip! Maybe the best paced book in the series yet! Very enjoyable!