The Mugger

Much like some movie sequels, The Mugger (Book 2), picks up where Cop Hater (Book 1) left off. Detective Steve Carella is on his honeymoon and out of pocket. This leaves five detectives at the 87th to handle the string of muggings plaguing the city. Three established regulars are in evidence: The first is Hall Willis, a cop small in stature but large in judo skills. He figures prominently in the investigation with a partner and without, even joining in a crap game to advance the case. The second is Detective / 2nd Grade Meyer Meyer, a good cop loaded with patience and, unfortunately in this novel, a long story that fails to pay off in the end, trying my patience. The third is Detective / 3rd Grade Roger Havilland, an aggressive, violent, lazy, racist cop who really has no place at the 87th. He is effective when he follows the rules but only violates them horrendously when working by himself. The fourth cop, serving as attractive bait for the mugger, is Detective / 2nd Grade Eileen Burke who gives as good as she gets. The fifth cop is Detective / 3rd Grade Temple who partners with Meyer on a “plant” and painfully serves as his straight man for most of the story. Accidently shot in the first book, beat cop Bert Kling is now begrudgingly recuperating and unable to work. An old acquaintance drags him into a domestic situation which begins with discomfort and annoyance and goes downhill from there. Bert does as much legwork as the bulls and gets into trouble he ultimately doesn’t regret. He, and we, are introduced to Lieutenant Henry Hawthorne from Homicide North and, more importantly, his Detectives Monoghan and Monroe, an interchangeable pair who periodically appear unbidden through the rest of the series to needle, and be needled by, the cops of the 87th and provide unintended comic relief. And, of course, Mr. McBain, whose dialogue I find to be the most realistic in fiction I can recall, caps off this book with another memorably entertaining plot twist. I greatly recommend this easily-read follow-up as a proper addition to the popular series. As I have done, more than once: enjoy.

I’m starting the 87th Precinct from the first book to the last, in order of publication. I started reading Ed McBain as a teenager. I’m 50 now. But I read the books as they were available in the public library so I never read them in order. Plus, there are books that were published in the 1950’s when I wasn’t alive yet. Along with Ed McBain’s first books in this series, The Mugger uses language and descriptions of policing techniques that were used in an entirely different era than today. There was no DNA, there was barely a way to match fingerprints, nothing was computerized, etc. The Mugger takes you back to a time when you had to rely on your gut and a whole bunch of questioning people to find a killer. Definitely old school policing and great characters. In the first book, Ed McBain himself will tell you how he came up with the 87th Precinct and how he chose to set it in an unnamed city that became its own character in the books. Ed McBain was an amazing writer. Anybody who is new to Ed McBain’s writing is in for a treat because there are seemingly endless amounts of books to read.

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 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 wants to make the city of Isola a living thing in this one; the first seven paragraphs contain beautifully descriptive prose likening the city to a woman, after all. McBain also, by design, made the entire squad room the hero of the series. To that end, he places Carella off-screen in this entry, on vacation. Carella doesnt 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 werent 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 hes 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 cant say more in case youve 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 especially are dated as per police techniques, but theyre terrific reads, and once youve read a couple, youll be hooked.

The detectives of the 87th Precinct are trying to catch a man who is mugging women in the streets of Isola, a district of the city that is clearly a fictionalised version of New York in which the series is set. The man is becoming more violent, often hitting the women even after he has stolen their valuables, and has the strange habit of finishing his assault by bowing and saying Clifford thanks you, madam. So far the detectives have little to go on, and the pressure ramps up when one girl, assumed to be Cliffords latest victim, is found dead.

Having loved the first book in the series, Cop Hater, when I read it a couple of years ago, my expectations of this one were high. It is very readable, but suffers a bit from second book syndrome McBain seems to be working out what to do with the characters he introduced us to in book 1, and there are so many detectives flitting in and out that its quite hard to keep track of whos who. McBains plan was to have the series work as a kind of ensemble, with different detectives coming in and out of the spotlight in each story, and from my memory of reading several of the books long ago, he does succeed in this to a degree. But eventually he succumbed and made Steve Carella the recurring lead the detective who was the main character in Cop Hater. Carella isnt in this one, being off on his honeymoon, and his lack is felt.

As the story progresses, Patrolman Bert Kling comes to the fore. He was friends long ago with the brother-in-law of the dead girl, and the girls sister asks him to look into her murder. Although this is not the job of a patrolman, Bert feels obliged by friendship to try at least, and he also hopes that it might help him in his ambition to be promoted to detective.

The major problem with the story is that the solution is screamingly obvious. Maybe it wouldnt have been back then its always a problem to know with older books whether this was perhaps the first time a writer took a plot in this direction, but I fear its a plot weve all read too often now. My secondary problem was with the amount of violence in the book and its lack of credibility. My dad, who was a boxer, always used to scoff at Hollywood cowboy films where a man would be punched repeatedly in the face, hit over the head with a chair, be thrown over a bar and crash head-first into a wall lined with glasses and then get up, jump on his horse and gallop off after the bad guys, stopping only to kiss the heroine on his way out. While there are no horses nor indeed chairs in this book, the effect of the excessive violence and the characters reaction to it had the same effect on me. McBain seems to be using violence and police corruption to give the book its noir tone, whereas in Cop Hater he relied much more on creating an edgy atmosphere through great descriptions of the city.

So one for fans, but not one I would suggest as an introduction to the series for newcomers. The series ran for approximately ten thousand books well, OK, over fifty so there are plenty of others to choose from.

This is the second in Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series, featuring a whole squadroom of detective heroes, rather than one particular main character. First published in 1956, it follows on from the first novel

Cop Hater (Crime Essentials)

. Steve Carella is on his honeymoon, having married Teddy at the end of the last book, and this novel features various members of the squad, but in particular Hal Willis and patrolman Bert Kling.

Kling was shot in the first novel and is still off work when we meet him again. Bored and at a loose end, he is asked by an old acquaintance to speak to his young sister in law, who he fears is in some kind of trouble. Bert is unwilling to talk to her, but eventually does and also feels something is wrong. Meanwhile, there is a persistent, and violent, mugger causing problems for the detectives of the 87th. The two storylines soon coincide and McBain ties everything together with great skill. I have read this series all the way through and the characters develop as the books progress, but these early novels have a charm of their own. Yes, they are somewhat dated now, but if you are considering reading the series, it is good to start at the beginning and see where these characters started from.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member