Killer's Choice [Hardcover]

Ed McBain (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1992

When Annie Boone is killed, detectives Carella and Kling are joined by 87th Precinct newcomer Cotton in an investigation that questions the victim's true nature and considers who may have wanted her dead. Reprint. NYT.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Stephen King and Nelson DeMille on Ed McBain

I think Evan Hunter, known by that name or as Ed McBain, was one of the most influential writers of the postwar generation. He was the first writer to successfully merge realism with genre fiction, and by so doing I think he may actually have created the kind of popular fiction that drove the best-seller lists and lit up the American imagination in the years 1960 to 2000. Books as disparate as The New Centurions, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, The Godfather, Black Sunday, and The Shining all owe a debt to Evan Hunter, who taught a whole generation of baby boomers how to write stories that were not only entertaining but that truthfully reflected the times and the culture. He will be remembered for bringing the so-called "police procedural" into the modern age, but he did so much more than that. And he was one hell of a nice man. --Stephen King

Way back in the mid-1970s, when I was a new writer and police series were very big, my editor asked me to do a series called Joe Ryker, NYPD. I had no idea how to write a police detective novel, but the editor handed me a stack of books and said, “These are the 87th Precinct novels by Ed McBain. Read them and you’ll know everything you need to know about police novels.” After I read the first book--which I think was Let’s Hear It for the Deaf Man--I was hooked, and I read every Ed McBain I could get my hands on. Then I sat down and wrote my own detective novel, The Sniper, featuring Joe Ryker. My series never reached the heights of the 87th Precinct series, but by reading those classic masterpieces, I learned all I needed to know about urban crime and how detectives think and act. And I had a hell of a time learning from the master. Years later, when I actually got to meet Ed McBain/Evan Hunter, I told him this story, and he said, “I would have liked it better if my books inspired you to become a detective instead of becoming my competition.” Evan and I became friends, and I was privileged to know him and honored to be in his company. I remain indebted to him for his good advice over the years. But most of all, I thank him for hundreds of hours of great reading. --Nelson DeMille

To read about how Ed McBain influenced other mystery and thriller writers, visit our Perspectives on McBain page.

For a complete selection of 87th Precinct novels available for Kindle (paperbacks coming in February 2012), visit our Ed McBain's 87th Precinct Booklist.

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--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Ed McBain was one of the pen names of successful and prolific crime fiction author Evan Hunter (1926–2005). Debuting in 1956, the popular 87th Precinct series is one of the longest running crime series ever published, featuring more than 50 novels, and is hailed as "one of the great literary accomplishments of the last half-century." McBain was awarded the Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement in 1986 by the Mystery Writers of America and was the first American to receive the Cartier Diamond Dagger award from the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Armchair Detective Library; Limited edition (September 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562870092
• ISBN-13: 978-1562870096
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,619,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars KILLER'S CHOICE IS A KILLER BOOK!!, February 5, 2002

By 

Mac Blair "Mac Blair" (Huntingdon, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Killer's Choice (The 87th Precinct Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have really liked all the 87th Precinct books I have read. This one is really two stories in one. Meyer Meyer, yes, that is his name, Bert Kling, Steve Carella and newcomer Cotton Hawes are after who ever killed a young lady at a liquor store and also who ever killed a cop. They are two different people and the work takes two different paths. McBain writes so it holds your attention. You feel like you are part of the investigation. The book is short and reads quickly. It is hard to put down.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Killer's Choice, September 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Killer's Choice (Hardcover)

This annal in the history of the 87 police detectives will keep you rivited from page one thru the end. Its smart and well done, and you really care about the characters. Cotton Hawes comes to life in this book and grows with us through out the years in succeeding stories. Like all his books, this is a quick read and roller coaster ride.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Average Whodunit Below Average For McBain, May 16, 2006

By 

Bill Slocum (Norwalk, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Killer's Choice (The 87th Precinct Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

Inside a liquor store, a girl is shot to death with a Colt .25 automatic. The detectives of the 87th Precinct are faced with two mysteries: Who was the killer and who, really, was the victim?

Add to that a separate case involving a slain 87th Precinct detective and a new guy on the beat named Cotton Hawes who wants to prove himself, and you have the recipe for a top-notch Ed McBain mystery. Pity the cook brought this to boil a bit fast.

Published in 1958, just five books into his signature series of police procedurals, McBain (or alter ego Evan Hunter) was still easing into things, figuring out what the mythical city of Isola and the detectives of the 87th were all about. As usual, Steve Carella is the main detective here, but Meyer Meyer and Bert Kling (introduced as a uniform cop in "The Mugger" and described at one point as young-looking as Elvis Presley - golly, this is an older McBain!) put in some quality time as well.

There's also Hawes, a series regular for the next five decades who debuts here, a transfer from a more genteel Isola precinct who doesn't understand that harder rules apply, i.e. don't bother knocking at a suspect's door. "Politeness is something you have to be careful about," is how Meyer puts it to his wife later.

The central mystery develops quickly and well, as the murdered woman is described in different ways by the people who knew her. Her ex-husband says she outgrew him, while her own mother seems to think otherwise. One boyfriend recalls a good-time girl who knew her way around a pool cue, another describes her as meek and mild. Only the liquor store owner seems to have no opinion of his dead employee, at least at first.

This "many faces of Eve" angle promises more than it delivers, especially as it has less bearing on the mystery's resolution than you expect. McBain was still sorting out the 87th Precinct and the demands of writing mysteries that worked both as whodunits and "whydunits," the latter a term coined by McBain critics as his mysteries deepened in complexity and reader involvement.

Series fans will enjoy this for the introduction of Hawes and the chance to see a younger, more innocent version of the 87th Precinct, before McBain's dark and gritty imagination really took off. But those wanting early McBain stories that hold together as mysteries and as stories will more enjoy checking out his classic debut "Cop Hater" and even better "Mugger."