Killer's Payoff by
Ed McBain
pbk out February 00
(Allison Busby)
at £5.99
The first time I realised I was into crime writing - this was back in '84 or '85 - was when I looked up at my bookshelf and realised I would have to make space for some more McBain's. At that point I think I had at least ten 87th Precinct books. Now I've got around 35 and I recently bought The Big Bad City , the very latest. Having neglected the series for a while I loved it. It was like meeting an old friend unexpectedly and having a great time as a result - there is no finer pleasure. And then this re-issue of an early 87th dropped on the doormat. Re-reading these two brought back a lot memories from those early days; Carella and his wife (God, she is beautiful), The Deaf Man, the bomb in the squad room, Detective Kling finding his girlfriend murdered, the guy who got skinned alive at the end of one (which one was that?), "The city in these pages is imaginary" - when, of course its not, Isola is New York 'flipped over'. Oh, I could go on, but I wont. It was great reading this again. I don't remember reading it the first time - which is OK because I got to enjoy it al over again. I offer you these ramblings because nothing I can say will ad to the greatness that is Ed McBain. The 87th Precinct books are one of the truly enduring monuments of crime writing. If you know what I mean you'll nod your heads. If there is any one out there who doesn't know McBain, well here is as good a place to start as any (although the series starts with Cop Hater first published, amazingly, in 1956).
Killer's Payoff by
Ed McBain