Lullaby/Vespers/Widows [Paperback]

Ed McBain (Author)

Book Description

Series: 87th Precinct Mysteries | Publication Date: May 1, 2001

The "New York Times" bestselling author who changed the face of crime fiction brings back three classic 87th Precinct novels -- now together in one stunning volume

LULLABY
At New Year's, a sinister song of death and destruction echoes through the 87th Precinct, and it isn't Auld Lang Syne....

VESPERS
the cops of the 87th Precinct must cast the first stone in the bizarre case of a murdered priest -- and a parish torn apart by the deadliest of sins.

WIDOWS
It's summer in the city, and the brutal slaying of a lawyer and his mistress is heating up the 87th Precinct.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Cosmopolitan Splendid....You're in for a treat. -- Review

About the Author

Ed McBain, a recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's coveted Grand Master Award, was also the first American to receive the Diamond Dagger, the British Crime Writers Association's highest award. His books have sold more than one hundred million copies, ranging from the more than fifty titles in the 87th Precinct series (including the Edgar Award-nominated Money, Money, Money) to the bestselling novels written under his own name, Evan Hunter -- including The Blackboard Jungle (now in a 50th anniversary edition from Pocket Books) and Criminal Conversation. Fiddlers, his final 87th Precinct novel, was recently published in hardcover. Writing as both Ed McBain and Evan Hunter, he broke new ground with Candyland, a novel in two parts. He also wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. He died in 2005.

Visit www.edmcbain.com.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 816 pages
• Publisher: Gallery (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743426665
• ISBN-13: 978-0743426664
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,457,021 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

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars POLICE PROCEDURES RULE THREE TIMES, February 16, 2002

By 

Allan F. Schwartz (Bronx, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lullaby/Vespers/Widows (Paperback)

For the fan of the Police Procedural novel NO ONE does it quite as well as Ed McBain. The 87th Precinct series has followed the changes in Police procedural an detection from the mid fifties to the present time.

What a fun sampler this is 3 complete novels from the late 80's to the early 90's for approximately the price of two paper back novels.
I truly got my money's worth out of these three totally different
tales of the 87th Precinct