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Category Archives: Friday’s Forgotten Book
Ranking the 87th Precinct Mysteries
Six years ago I set myself a challenge: to read (or, in most cases, re-read) all 55 of Ed McBain’s books in his 87th Precinct series of police procedurals, and then review and rate them here at Fedora. It took … Continue reading
FIDDLERS (2005) by Ed McBain
So six years and 55 books later, we come to the end of the road. This would prove to be the final 87th Precinct mystery by Ed McBain and was released posthumously. It was rumoured that he had, in advance, … Continue reading
THE WENCH IS WICKED / BLONDE VERDICT / DELILAH WAS DEADLY by Carter Brown
This omnibus by ultra-prolific paperback writer ‘Carter Brown’ (in private life Alan Geoffrey Yates) – courtesy of those very nice people at Stark House Press – features the first three cases of Al Wheeler, the unorthodox and wise-cracking Lieutenant working in the California … Continue reading
TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1937) by Ernest Hemingway
A tale of smuggling between Cuba and Florida, this is generally considered one of Hemingway’s lesser works, which may actually explain why it made surprisingly good movie fodder. The hardboiled story of downtrodden boat-owner Harry Morgan was famously filmed with … Continue reading
PAST TENSE by Margot Kinberg
You all know Margot Kinberg, the indefatigable mystery author and academic who blogs over at Confessions of a Mystery Novelist and who cheerleads for the detective genre here, there and everywhere. Past Tense is the third in her series of … Continue reading
PIETR THE LATVIAN (1931) by Georges Simenon
This novel marked the official literary debut of Detective Chief Inspector Jules Amédée François Maigret of the Paris Police Judiciaire when it first appeared in serial form in the summer and autumn of 1930. It was however the fifth in … Continue reading
NINE-AND DEATH MAKES TEN (1941) by Carter Dickson
I fell in love with John Dickson Carr’s work via his ‘Carter Dickson’ alter ego when I chanced across his classic The Reader is Warned back when I was 14. Nine and Death Makes Ten (aka Murder in the Submarine … Continue reading
HARK! (2004) by Ed McBain
The Deaf Man – the cold-blooded super-criminal whose antics plagued the boys and girls of the 87th Precinct for decades – was last seen, in 1993’s Mischief, being tied naked to a bed and being shot twice in the chest … Continue reading
HARDBOILED, NOIR AND GOLD MEDALS by Rick Ollerman
Bringing together new essays with material published over the last decade, this new volume in the Stark House Reference range more than lives up to its subtitle: Essays on Crime Fiction Writers from the ’50s through to the 90s. Part of … Continue reading
THE FRUMIOUS BANDERSNATCH (2003) by Ed McBain
Cultural appropriation is the theme and the music biz the scene for this unusual entry in the 87th Precinct series. ‘Bandersnatch’ is the name of a new album, taken of course from Lewis Carroll, and initially there is more than … Continue reading
FAT OLLIE’S BOOK (2002) by Ed McBain
Ed McBain decided that ultra-bigot Detective/First Grade Oliver Wendell Weeks – known colloquially (if not to his face) as ‘Fat Ollie’ – somehow merited having his own 87th Precinct mystery, even though he’s from the 88th! But what about Roger … Continue reading
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY (2001) by Ed McBain
Steve Carella is paired with Fat Ollie Weeks in this unusual entry in the 87th Precinct series. Shifting away from the whodunit formula, this is a contemporary thriller involving drug trafficking, counterfeiting and the secret service and featuring a rogue’s … Continue reading
RIVERS OF LONDON by Ben Aaronovitch
I first read this urban fantasy / police procedural hybrid several years ago and really enjoyed it, but for various reasons stopped there with the series. Recently a couple of friends of mine mentioned they had been reading the later … Continue reading
THE LAST DANCE (2000) by Ed McBain
Given the title and the fact that it was the fiftieth entry in the 87th Precinct series, it is possible, just maybe, that this was envisaged as the last one – or maybe McBain was just toying with us. Certainly, … Continue reading
SHE DIED A LADY (1943) by Carter Dickson
OK, let’s get this out of the way: Carter Dickson, aka John Dickson Carr, is my favourite Golden Age detective story writer. For me, he was better than Christie, Queen, Sayers and Stout, love them all though I do. And … Continue reading
THE BIG BAD CITY (1999) by Ed McBain
The murder of a nun, a burglar who leaves cookies as a calling card and various family entanglements involving Steve Carella, his sister and the man who murdered their father, are just some of the elements to be found in … Continue reading
ANGEL’S FLIGHT (1960) by Lou Cameron
This dynamic piece of jazz noir was the debut novel of Lou Cameron (1924–2010), an author who would later establish himself as the ultra prolific authors of hundreds of Westerns. First published as a Gold Medal original, it spins the … Continue reading
DEATH IN THE TUNNEL (1936) by Miles Burton
This is a bit of a special post – I have so far managed to get through life without reading a single novel by John Rhode, who often published as Miles Burton and whose real name was Cecil John Street. … Continue reading
MINISTRY OF FEAR (1943) by Graham Greene
A wartime story of espionage and guilt, this was the last and personal favourite of Graham Greene’s self-styled ‘entertainments,’ the term he used to differentiate his thrillers from his more mainstream novels, though several of his books fall into that category … Continue reading
WOMAN ON THE ROOF (1954) by Helen Nielsen
This books starts off with a premise reminiscent of the Hitchcock movie Rear Window (or rather, the short story on which it was based, ‘It Had to Be Murder’ by Cornell Woolwich / William Irish): looking through a window a … Continue reading
DEATH IN THE CLOUDS (1935) by Agatha Christie
I rarely review Christie’s books, mainly because her work is already so well covered out there on the blogosphere. But now that my amazing oldest niece (of two, by 12 minutes) is getting into crime fiction, its time for one … Continue reading
FROZEN CHARLOTTE by Alex Bell
This is one of a series of books published under the ‘Red Eye’ banner from Little Tiger/Stripes Publishing and aimed at young adults. I picked this one up for my amazing niece (youngest of the two by 12 minutes) while … Continue reading
THE VANISHED (1973) by Bill Pronzini
Bill Pronzini’s “Nameless” private eye first appeared in short stories from the late 1960s, some of which he later expanded into novels from the following decade, beginning with The Snatch (which I previously reviewed here). Our San Francisco private eye now … Continue reading
THE LAST BEST HOPE (1998) by Ed McBain
This was designed as the last in the series of 13 Florida-based thrillers featuring lawyer Matthew Hope and to celebrate, Ed McBain turned it into a cross-over with his 87th Precinct mysteries, producing an entertaining legal-procedural-caper hybrid. For the purposes … Continue reading
NOCTURNE (1997) by Ed McBain
Cotton Hawes finally comes (slightly) out of the background for the 47th book in the 87th Precinct series, which as the title suggests all takes place in the course of a couple of nights (around the 21st of January) and … Continue reading
ROMANCE (1995) by Ed McBain
There was a two-year break following the publication of Mischief (1993), but McBain picks up directly from the end of the previous volume – indeed, the first 5 pages of this new novel are taken from the end of the … Continue reading
SHADOW GAMES (1993) by Ed Gorman
I think this is a terrific book and so offer this review by way of a small tribute to prolific author and blogger Edward Joseph Gorman, who died last Friday just a few weeks shy of his 75th birthday. This powerful … Continue reading
MISCHIEF (1993) by Ed McBain
The Deaf Man, that arch nemesis of the 87th Precinct and in particular thorn in the side of detective Steve Carella, is back again for a Springtime caper, here passing himself as Sanson, one of his many daft and transparent pseudonyms. … Continue reading
HOUSE OF EVIL (1954) by Clayre and Michael Lipman
Despite sporting a generic title that makes it sound like a Gothic horror, don’t be put off as this is a terrific little mystery with a strong psychological slant. This reprint comes courtesy of Stark House Press supremo Greg Shepard, … Continue reading
Tipping My Fedora 