Customer Reviews

The Mugger

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

And you will thank Clifford back for this exciting, fast-paced early entry in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series of police thrillers.

A mugger is brutalizing the women of the 87th Precinct, stealing their purse, punching them up, and taking his leave with a dandyesque bow and the immortal words: "Clifford thanks you." The detectives of the 87th have no sense of humor where this sort of thing is concerned, especially when one apparent victim is found lying dead on a riverside embankment.

While the series actually began with "Cop Hater," this second book, published in 1956, is where the series, and its mythical city of Isola, begins to take shape. McBain takes time out to describe the demographics of the 87th, the dance clubs, the stay-at-home wives who rake each other over in their washing-line gossip sessions like so many Mesdames Defarge.

Some nice time-outs, too, like one early on about the essence of urban loneliness. "Loneliness doesn't respect the calendar," he writes. "Saturday, Tuesday, Friday, Thursday - they're all the same, and they're all grey."

Steve Carella, the de facto hero of the 87th series, is away on his honeymoon for this one, and the reins are taken, for maybe the only time in the series, by a patrolman rather than a detective. Bert Kling is still nursing his injury from "Cop Hater" when an old friend pays him a visit, asking him to talk to his sister-in-law. That he does, and when the sister-in-law turns up dead the next day, he finds himself investigating the mysterious circumstances of her life. Why was a beautiful woman so sad, why did she visit a strange dance club and sit zombielike on the sidelines despite the many invitations to dance, why did she turn up a corpse on the other side of the city?

Since Kling is just a beat cop, he is limited in what he can do, but he does manage to meet one woman who may have some answers, particularly for his own lonelyheart condition. Claire Townsend is one of several recurring characters to make her first appearance here, along with Dets. Meyer Meyer and Eileen Burke and two favorites of mine, the clueless Homicide dicks Monoghan and Monroe.

The mystery moves along at McBain's signature pace, with the detectives setting up dragnets and working around the clock. There is plenty of action, and nice detours like with a sunglasses manufacturer who explains the intricacies of his trade, and the difference between "fronts" and "temples." As with so many of his books, McBain makes you feel less like a bookreader and more of an eavesdropper on a world every bit as vibrant and lived-in, if not more so, than your own.

It's a quick read, but if it's your first 87th book, five will get you ten it won't be your last.

This entry in the 87th series spotlights Bert Kling before his promotion to detective. A mugger wearing cheap sunglasses has been targeting women in the precinct. When the sister of a friend is found murdered with all clues pointing to the mugger, Kling investigates and gets embroiled in the hunt for the purse snatcher. Noticeably absent in this novel is Steve Carella, who is usually McBain's focal point.

This is only the second McBain book I have read. It is very , very good. I am going to try to find them to read in order. Have a long way to go I know. The Mugger is about Bert Kling, who is a partolman. He is searching for a mugger named Clifford. He is doing this in his off duty time. Then a young girl Kling has met is killed, was it by the mugger or not????? The ending is great is all I will say about that. The book is fairly short, easy to read and will hold you attention. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery.

I LIKE THE WAY HE STARTED OUT, HE GOT MY ATTENTION RIGHT AWAY AND IT WAS SO FAST PACED THAT I FINISHED IT IN RECORD TIME. I READ A LOT OF HIS BOOKS AND I WAS HOOKED SINCE THE FIRST BOOK, I'M STILL READING HIS BOOKS AND IT LOOKS LIKE THERE'S NO STOPPING ME.

He uses the darkness of the city night as his cloak. He watches with a deep sense of patience. He silently, quickly steps up to the women, assaulting them violently. It is their money he is after...For he goes by the name of Clifford, and he is the Mugger. His method is always the same. After snatching his victim's purse, he bows from the waist and politely says "Clifford thanks you Madam." With several cases of muggings apperently commited by the same man, the detecives of the 87th Precinct go full tilt in bringing this man to justice. Detecives Hal Willis and Roger Hallivand head the case with what they have. Hal Willis is short in size, but don't let that fool you. He is a master of judo and knows how to use it. Roger Hallivand is a bull of a man, easily clearing the six foot mark. He speaks with his fists instead of words. Together, these two detecives use all they have to try to crack this case. Finally, a very attractive girl is found murdered, in which all evidence of the murder points toward the Mugger. The dead girl happened to be related to a friend of Bert Kling, who is a cop working in the 87th Precinct. Although he isn't a detecive, but instead a patrolman, Kling is weary. However, he is still convinced to seek out the killer by the victim's sister. He reluctantly agrees, and starts his own investigation. However, because he isn't a detecive and cannot offically investigate the crime without stepping on toes, Kling runs into trouble alng the way...Will the crafty Mugger ever be caught? Will Kling solve the murder? Will Kling ever be promoted to detecive? A very short and satisfying read. A true thriller. The second book in the acclaimed 87th Precinct series will keep you on edge. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

McBain's second novel in the 87th Precinct series delivers an alternate to the straight mystery that started the series, setting the tone that his novels would switch back and forth betwee, and gives the main mystery a bizarre and darkly humorous twist.

In this case, a mugger that courteously bows and thanks the women he abuses and victimizes ("Clifford thanks you, Madam.") is terrorizing the city, and the bulls of the 87th doing their best to stop him. The pressure already on them increases when one of Clifford's apparent victims turns up dead.

With Carella on a honeymoon in the Poconos with his new bride Teddy, Willis and Havilland team up to track down the notorious Clifford. They are assisted in the search with the introduction of bald jokester Meyer Meyer, the most patient man in the 87th. Also introduced is female detective Eileen Burke, who goes undercover as Clifford bait in a desperate attempt to trap the mugger.

At the same time, patrolman Bert Kling finds himself stepping out of bounds as he looks into the murder of an old friend's daughter, who just happens to be Clifford's homicide victim. His private investigation threatens to endanger his job, but also puts him in contact with the dead girls beautiful college friend, whom he falls for instantly.

The Mugger is one of McBain's less spectacular stories, by which I mean it is not the crimes themselves that keep you riveted, but the characters involved and the stories they tell. A good portion of the book is taken up by interrogation transcripts, but they give a deeper feeling to the city and its denizens rather than bog it down.

I really enjoyed this book, so I am pleased that there are 54 more of them available. Recently, 35 of these 87th Precinct mysteries were the Kindle Daily Deal. Which means that I bought 35 books for $35.00. Which is a bargain by any reasonable measure.

The Mugger is the second of the 87th Precinct books, and was published in 1953.. At the time that this book was written, fingerprinting existed, but modern forensics had not yet been fully developed. There was no DNA evidence. No fiber comparisons. Crime scene photography was in its infancy. Nonetheless, scientific evidence did exist, and Ed McBain relied upon in telling the story of this investigation. Because although police officers, especially detectives, relied primarily upon witness interviews and street sense to solve crimes, often it was street sense that solved crimes, and science that confirmed the truth of the solution.

The Mugger is two intertwined crime stories. The first is the investigation into the title character -- the mugger -- a man who assaults women while he robs them, completing his crime by bowing and saying "Clifford thanks you, madam.". The second is the murder of a very troubled young woman which is attributed to the mugger, although it is way outside of his usual signature.

In many ways, The Mugger reminded me of Homicide, Life on the Street, one of the best television shows ever produced for American television. The Mugger is more than the sum of its parts, it is more than a crime story. It is an introduction into Ed McBain's world, the world of Isola, the mythical city of the 87th Precinct, of patrolman Bert Kling, 24 years old and fresh out of the Korean conflict, of men who work hard and solve crimes. As Baltimore became a character in Homicide, so Isola becomes a character in The Mugger. McBain is an old school author, who writes clear, occasionally surprisingly lyrical, prose, and tells a good story.

I love these books.They are short, fast reads with twisty turns. Right up my alley! If you are into detective novels you will enjoy these.

Steve Carrella is away on his honeymoon during this book. The main action concerns the patrolman, later Detective, Bert Kling who manages to solve a murder mystery all by himself. Kling also begins his romance with Claire Townsend. This book describes Kling and describes enough of his background so that the reader gets to know him. Kling is a Korean War veteran. He is brave and tough and good looking. Unfortunately, he struggles with his relationships with women - a theme that continues throughout the entire series.

The book is cleverly plotted and pithy. It does not waste words. It gets right to the point.

It was a quick, engaging read. Evan Hunter, writing as Ed McBain, demonstrated the kind of skill that would enable him to continue the 87th Precinct (the setting for this work) series for decades, and accomplish such other feats as writing the novel "Blackboard Jungle" and the screenplay for the movie "Birds."

The central story is the hunt for a quirky mugger (as if there's a "normal" mugger) who smashes his victims with his fists and says a few bizarre words to them as he leaves the scene. Could he be the same man who murdered a seventeen-year-old girl, Jeannie Paige, whose body was found at the bottom of a steep cliff?

The book was published in 1956. So, no cell phones. No Internet. McBain writes about the manual maintenance of fingerprint records and the filing of typewritten police reports/autopsies. There are copies of these reports in the text.

Many of the characters are veterans of WWII and the Korean War. There are mothers who stay at home. Neighborhoods where people know each other's business. That sort of thing is skillfully woven into the plot by McBain, as he focuses on the young patrolman Bert Kling. Kling wants to be a detective, and he starts detecting with the Jeannie Price case.