The Empty Hours

There is nothing fancy about the 87th Precinct. The straight talking homicide detectives start their shifts on time, stay late and break cases by wearing out shoe leather. The series dates from the 1970s, before cell phones, DNA analysis or computers; back when an answering machine stood out as high-tech. The throwback to old fashioned adds a certain charm and a ton of substance. No need to suspend disbelief, these stories are as real as real can be. The only device that feels like fiction is that the names of the locations have been changed. (This is the one extraneous aspect of the writing, especially since referring to the Bowery as “Vineland” or replacing Alphabet City with “Cambel’s” does little to conceal identity). If you are in the mood to chomp on a satisfying police procedural, the 87th Precinct books are the meatloaf of murder – a welcome antidote to modern dishes about glamorous cops in expensive suits engaging in high speed chases that end with gratuitous explosions. These “tough” guys treat their wives to Chinese more often than they flash their guns. In the gritty 87th, the homicide cops solve crimes by pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, and chasing down every lead without gimmicks or gadgets. When the answers don’t add up, they go back the next day and ask the same people the sames questions all over again. Very little disrupts the methodical routines of the 87th, and yet, each book has a unique feel depending on which detective in the squad pulls the case. There is nothing fancy about the 87th Precinct series. Someone dies, someone killed them. And that’s all it takes to roll out a page turner.

The fifteenth entry in Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series consists of three novellas featuring the precinct’s detectives. In the first, a wealthy young woman is found murdered in a room in a run-down boarding house. Why in the world was she living there, when she had loads of money and a very upscale home at her disposal? There’s precious little evidence to go on, and Detective Steve Carella is reduced to going through her cancelled checks, grasping at straws in an effort to find her killer.

In the second story, a rabbi is viciously stabbed to death on Passover. The precinct’s Jewish detective, Meyer Meyer, interrupts his own observation of the holiday to help Carella investigate the killing. The trail leads to a rabid anti-Semite, but can the detectives make a case?

In the third story, Detective Cotton Hawes is off for a weekend skiing vacation with a tall, limber showgirl. He’s reserved two rooms, but things are definitely looking up when she asks to stay in his. Then some inconsiderate jerk commits a murder…

As I ordered this book I did not know it is really three stores in one book until I received it. As McBain books are, to me, the three are good. The first one is “The Empty Hours” about a young wealthy woman who is found dead. Who is she and is she who you think she is? Why was she killed? Carella and friends run down clues until they find out. You will be surprised. The second one is simply “J”. A Rabbi is found killed. Who would want to kill a Rabbi? There is a Jew-hater, was it him? Meyer Meyer leds the search to find the killer and finds something out about himself while doing. Again a surprise. The last one is “Storm”. This one features Cotton Hawes and his sweetie going to a ski resort and an instructor ending up dead. Cotton is afraid the local police will mess up the investigation and trys to get involved. The locals resent him being there. He still gets involved and the killer is finally found. As three are three stories in one book they are all pretty short so it make for each one to ba a quick read. McBain will hold your attention and you won’t want to put the book down.

Read the next book out of order, and FWIW, I could have done without this one. The first two stories were easily predictable, the third pretty lame. Only three s for this one.

Suspenseful, well written. More development of Cotton character. Always interesting story and mystery. Excellent storytelling to pass the time. Excellent.

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