LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE DEAF MAN (1973) by Ed McBain

Yes, it’s the return of the fiendish nemesis of the 87th Precinct in his third appearance in 12 years (he appears approximately once a decade). Despite the fact that both of his previous capers were undone by sheer bad luck, he seems cockier than ever, taunting the detectives a series of tantalising clues to his latest scheme.

“You’ll have to speak louder,” the voice said. “I’m a little hard of hearing.”

I submit this review for Patti Abbott’s Friday’s Forgotten Books meme over at her fab Pattinase blog and Bev’s 2014 Silver Age Vintage Mystery Challenge Bingo.

Let’s Hear it for the Deaf Man (87th Precinct series #27)
First Published: 1973
Leading players: Steve Carella, Bert Kling, Meyer Meyer, Hal Willis, Peter Byrnes, Cotton Hawes, Monoghan & Monroe, The Deaf Man

The Deaf Man starts sending photostats of photographs addressed to Carella. First to arrive is a photo of J. Edgar Hoover, a copy of which is then sent again shortly afterwards. This is then followed by two of George Washington, then of a Japanese zero plane, silent film star Vilma Banky and an American football teams all of which are reproduced in the book. The delivery of the manila envelopes, always addressed to Carella, becomes almost a routine. Is our nemesis just playing a game and sticking to his own set of rules, or could it be that he needs to the 87th to behave in a certain way for his plan to work?

“With your assistance,” the Deaf Man said, “I’m going to steal five hundred thousand dollars on the last day of April.”

Throughout much of the story the squad tries to figure out what the clues mean while being taunted with regular telephone calls from the Deaf Man. In the meantime, they also investigate other cases …  Carella looks into the bizarre death of an unidentified young man found crucified to a wall, which he eventually cracks mainly thanks to the long arm of coincidence as he literally bumps into most of the suspects just by doggedly questioning the people living in the area. Kling on the other hand investigates a cat burglar with a sense of humour – steadily ransacking one of the more ritzy blocks in town, he leaves live kittens at the scene as a calling card. Kling also has a fair amount of luck in trying to crack the case but perhaps more importantly falls in love again …

“He had never seen a more beautiful woman in his life”

Kling is always destined to have a rocky love life but here he begins anew, becoming utterly smitten with the stunning Augusta, a model recently arrived in town whose apartment gets burgled. He is utterly tongue-tied around her but luckily for him she cuts through all the embarrassment as she not only knows how great people thinks she looks but also happens to think that Kling is as beautiful as she is. And while all this is going on, the Deaf Man concocts a clever dual scheme to rob a bank that only Carella might be able to crack – but will he make it in time? This is often a very funny story – the introduction of the Deaf Man for instance at the end of the second chapter comes as the climax to a hilarious scene of escalating chaos in the squad room as noisy felons and victims just keep piling in – but is not all played for laughs and in fact is also full of surprisingly ripe language. Its main virtue though is that it rattles along at a great pace, buoyed by three ingenious plotlines and the introduction of a great new character in Augusta Blair. We, and Kling, will certainly be hearing more from her in future volumes …

The Deaf Man cases

• The Heckler (1960) – which I previously reviewed here
• Fuzz (1968) – reviewed here
• Let’s Hear it for the Deaf Man! (1973)
• Eight Black Horses (1985)
• Mischief (1993)
• Hark! (2004)

I submit this review for Bev’s 2014 Silver Age Vintage Mystery Challenge Bingo in the ‘Crime other than murder’ category – yes, there is a killing in it, but it’s not the main crime being investigated so I think this makes it OK …

***** (3 fedora tips out of 5)