So Long As You Both Shall Live

It’s a happy day for the detectives of the 87th Precinct when one of their own, Bert Kling, marries his beautiful girlfriend, a very successful model named Augusta Blair. After the wedding party is over, the newlyweds retire to their hotel room and Bert decides to take a shower before the real festivities begin. But when Burt gets out of the shower, he discovers much to his dismay, that his bride has disappeared.

At first, Bert thinks that his pals have pulled the old “Kidnap the Bride” wedding trick and that they will be holding Augusta hostage downstairs in the hotel bar until Bert comes down and buys enough drinks to ransom her back. But then Bert discovers one of Augusta’s shoes abandoned on the floor and even worse, finds a chloroform-soaked rag in the wastebasket. Obviously, this is no joke.

The detectives of the 87th spring into action to investigate the kidnapping, expecting that Bert will soon receive a ransom demand. But hours later, the kidnapper has not called and there is no news of the disappearing bride. At this point, Fat Ollie Weeks inserts himself into the case, even though he’s assigned to another precinct. Nobody in the 87th can stand Fat Ollie, even though most of them admit that he’s an excellent detective. And as it turns out, they’re going to need all the help they can get if they have any hope of recovering Augusta alive.

This is among the better books in the series, at least among the first thirty-one of them, and it’s fun to watch the detectives work this case which really hits home for them. Another great read from one of the masters.

Going through the whole 87th series sequentially and just finished this book a few hours ago (took less than a day to read). Kling’s wife is abducted on their wedding night and the squad races to find her. This book was carried by Carella (always a good thing) and Ollie Weeks. Ollie may not be everyone’s cup of tea (kind of a more racist version of NYPD Blue’s Sipowitz). He is a racist cop and has little PC in him but is a very determined cop who comes to help the 87th with their investigation. The parts of the book where you see his internal thinking are pretty interesting.

At 176 pages the story flows pretty fast and is a good read.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and recommend it 100%

Notes:
Worth The Money: Yes
Would I Recommend It: Yes

A short fun read like most in this series. In this one Bert Kling gets married and when he gets out of the shower st the hotel following the wedding his wife is missing. Thee entire book is about finding out who took Kling’s wife and where they are at. While not quite as good as some others in the series, it’s still a good read. This book was written many years ago before DNA and other police forensics, but it’s still good and not so dated that you can’t enjoy it.

Number 31 in Ed McBain’ s 87th Precinct series. It’s not one of his best, but if you are a fan, it fits the mold. Bert Kling finds true love (again?), a bride is abducted on her wedding night and the hunt is on. There are the usual seemingly irrelevant conversations that actually add reality to the narrative and, on occasion, humor. It is a quick read of an old-fashioned detective story and worth your time.

The story starts innocently with a photographer taking photos of his friend
Augusta Blair getting married to Bart Kling. On Bert’s wedding night, of all things, Augusta disappears from their room while he is indisposed. What happened? Well the “bulls” turn to informers like Danny Gimp to check on some bad guys like Manfred Baal and Al Brice.
Guess What It wasn’t them Then who was it and why? Don’t worry – the “bulls” come through once again!!
Super fast reading. Awesome story.

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