Blood Relatives

Evan Hunter, better known today as Ed McBain because of the 87th Precinct series, wrote Blood Relatives in 1975, nearly twenty years after the inaugural book in the series, Cop Hater. From the opening scene as a bloodied girl runs through the rain-darkened streets of Isola to get help, this one grabs you and doesnt let go. The tale Patricia Lowrey tells to the police leads them to her cousin Muriel, butchered by the man who tried to kill both of them. A line-up is arranged by Kling and Carella who discover they are working on the same case. But when Patricia fingers someone in a line-up, Carella can’t shake the feeling that something’s all wrong here. Even once the boys of the 87th finally appear to be getting the truth, Carella can’t shake the feeling.

This one delves more into the gritty underbelly of extended families than the mean streets of Isola, yet has that same noirish feel to it for which the series is famous. When a new piece of evidence falls into the lap of Carella by sheer happenstance, a sad and twisted story finally leads him to the killer. Passages told in a young girl’s voice in this one is some of the finest writing McBain ever did in this series. It humanizes the victim, and adds poignancy to this excellent police procedural.

Rather than attempting to flesh out every cop of the 87th in one book, or even two or three, McBain allowed the reader to become almost intimately acquainted with the cops of the 87th over time, just as we get to know someone over years in real life. It was a gamble which paid off, having such a diverse cast that readers came to know and love, and sometimes not love at all.

This one ends as it began, in the rain, as Carella walks away. Blood Relatives is a terrific entry in the series. There is a bit of a lag in the middle, but a huge and poignant payoff for readers at the end. Great stuff.

Where most books in this series have several different events or cases going on, there is only one case in this book. A young girl stumbles into the precinct with her dress torn, her hands all cut up and says her and her cousin were attacked on the way home from a party. She says her cousin was killed and she was cut before fighting off the attacker and getting away. But as Carella investigates some things don’t add up and then the girl tells a different story. Now Carella has to find out what really happened. Kind of straight forward and not nearly as good as others in this series.

WOW. That was the thought I had when I finished reading this kindle version this morning. Going through the whole 87th series sequentially I have had the great luck in reading 3 fantastic entries back-to-back-to-back. This book had a pretty adrenaline filled beginning and had me hooked right from the start. The opening crime was pretty disturbing (increasingly so as more and more details are found). One girl raped and killed and a second running for her life straight into the 87th precinct.

Carella and Kling are the leads in the case but it is really Carella’s book. If you are a fan of this series pick this book up right away and if you are just a fan of police novels in general give this one a try you will not be disappointed!

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

A young girl, her clothes ripped and covered and in blood running down the street trying to get to the one place that she knows is safe, the 87th precinct. The cop on the beat sees something that he can’t quite make out, investigating further he discovers that it is the body of a young girl, he immediately calls it in. This is the beginning of a murder investigation involving two young girls, the who, what, where and why will have to be answered by the 87 detectives Steve Carella and Bert Kling.
The work of writer Ed McBain AKA Evan Hunter takes you on a ride of police procedure that is the best of the best. He, McBain writes with such an ease that it is easy to see his knowledge on the subject of police work.

The 87th precinct books are usually a lot of fun to read. Theyre short, great regarding character descriptions and good on creating a story. I always make sure to have one on my e-reader for plane trips.

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