Lady Killer (87th Precinct Mystery) [Paperback]

Ed McBain (Author)

Book Description

Series: 87th Precinct Mystery | Publication Date: April 1, 1987

The detectives at the 87th Precinct have twelve hours to find out to whom the mysterious crank letter writer was referring when he wrote ""I will kill the lady tonight at 8. What can you do about it."" Reissue. NYT.

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 an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

'Familiarity with the cops of 87th Precinct breeds something like devotion: the more we know about them, the more we want to know. Their puzzles are our nightmares.' Newsweek 'Simply the best police procedurals being written in the United States.' Washington Post --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Signet (April 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451150821
• ISBN-13: 978-0451150820
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,495,111 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ed McBain was one of the many pen names of the successful and prolific crime fiction author Evan Hunter (1926 - 2005). Born Salvatore Lambino in New York, McBain served aboard a destroyer in the US Navy during World War II and then earned a degree from Hunter College in English and Psychology. After a short stint teaching in a high school, McBain went to work for a literary agency in New York, working with authors such as Arthur C. Clarke and P.G. Wodehouse all the while working on his own writing on nights and weekends. He had his first breakthrough in 1954 with the novel The Blackboard Jungle, which was published under his newly legal name Evan Hunter and based on his time teaching in the Bronx.

Perhaps his most popular work, the 87th Precinct series (released mainly under the name Ed McBain) is one of the longest running crime series ever published, debuting in 1956 with Cop Hater and featuring over fifty novels. The series is set in a fictional locale called Isola and features a wide cast of detectives including the prevalent Detective Steve Carella.

McBain was also known as a screenwriter. Most famously he adapted a short story from Daphne Du Maurier into the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). In addition to writing for the silver screen, he wrote for many television series, including Columbo and the NBC series 87th Precinct (1961-1962), based on his popular novels.

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. He passed away in 2005 in his home in Connecticut after a battle with larynx cancer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unusual McBain Has Strong Pace, Weak Punch, April 13, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Lady Killer (87th Precinct Mystery) (Paperback)

"Lady Killer" was written early in the history of the 87th Precinct series, during a nine-day period in the summer of 1957 while vacationing in Martha's Vineyard. As he wrote in a funny introduction to the Armchair Detective Library edition, he wanted to get it done before some house guests arrived, and almost managed to do so.

It's an unusual 87th entry for several reasons. Those expecting lots of violence and profanity will be surprised by how tame this reads compared to later editions. It's the only 87th novel I've read where Steve Carella was not the main investigator, as Cotton Hawes, a background character in other volumes, strides to the fore. Most notably, there is a very compressed time frame in this book, just over 12 hours from the time a mysterious boy hands a note to the 87th's desk sergeant that states someone's plans to kill "The Lady" to when the note says the killing will take place.

I have a hard time believing that the Isola crime lab would or could respond so quickly to what seems a likely crank note, developing prints and precisely identifying paste and paper. Also, the resolution was unsatisfactory. The would-be killer, who we get shadowy glimpses of before the full reveal, seems to be one type of person before we find out he's another. Maybe Ed just didn't like keeping his guests waiting, but a couple more days would have helped make for a better resolution.

But the pace of this book is great. It has a real kind of moment-by-moment vibrancy with assorted diverting detours like the hunt for the mysterious kid and various leads on who "The Lady" might be. While reading it, you don't want to do much of anything else. Food and bathroom breaks seem unwarranted intrusions. Maybe it's because the book is such a tight read, at well under 200 pages, but it feels like a really good episode of "Law And Order" or "24," though you'd have to call it "12" instead.

Add to that McBain's wicked sense of humor, his canny ear for dialogue, and his brilliance in observed detail, and you have a recipe for a terrific crime fiction read. Too bad he didn't finish what he started, but maybe you will find the ending more satisfying than I did.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LADY KILLER IS A KILLER BOOK!!!!!!, March 9, 2002

By 

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

This review is from: Lady Killer (87th Precinct Mystery) (Paperback)

I don't know any one but McBain that could hold my attention in a book that last for only a one day period of time. He is so good. The 87th Precinct gets a note one morning saying The Lady will be killed that night at 8:00. What lady???? Who could the killer be and why? There are millions of people in the City, is it possible to find The Lady and the killer before the deadline? The usual bunch try their best, Bert Kling, Steve Carella, Cotton Hawes, Myer Myer and Hal Willis give it all they have. It is a very good book on the way good police procedure will win out. The book will hold your attention, you can feel like you are part of the action going on, you can see in your mind the sweat and concern as the dead line draws closer. It is not about blood, guts and gore but will be a very good fast mystery read for you. I am trying to read these in order, hard to find some of them but think it is worth the try.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Early, brilliant effort from the 87th Precinct, January 9, 2009

By 

J. Shurin "carnivore" (London) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lady Killer (87th Precinct S.) (Paperback)

Ed McBain's long-running series of mystery novels spanned fifty years and over fifty books. Based in the fictional city of Isola (with its eerie similarities to New York), McBain's conscientious cops spent thousands of pages chasing down every sort of villainous behaviour. From 1956 to 2005, readers were introduced to serial killers, money laundering, granny dumping and more.

One of the early ones, Lady Killer focuses entirely on Detectives Carella and Hawes. The two detectives receive a note that 'The Lady' will be killed tonight. With a city full of ladies to choose from, there's a lot of floundering about to be done. The book is a bit more procedural than most - the detectives tap their informants, brush up on fingerprinting, mull over some criminal psychology and even use a sketch artist.

As a side effect, there's actually very little chance for the reader to solve the mystery themselves - instead, we're just along for the ride. There's also some entertaining nods to 1950's sensibilities involved. Hawes hits on everything in a skirt (or, more daringly, those ladies in pants). A good one.