Nocturne: A Novel of the 87th Precinct (87th Precinct Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Ed McBain (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1998 | Series: 87th Precinct Mysteries

In Isola, the hours between midnight and dawn are usually a quiet time. But for the 87th Precinct detectives Carella and Hawes, the murder of an old woman makes the wee hours anything but peaceful--especially when they learn she was one of the greatest concert pianists of the century long vanished. Meanwhile 88th Precinct cop Fat Ollie Weeks has his own early morning nightmare: he's on the trail of three prep school boys and a crack dealer who spent the evening carving up a hooker.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A veteran of the venerable 87th investigates the death of a concert pianist.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Fans of McBain's 87th Precinct series will find this forty-eighth installment as taut and intricate as its predecessors. But there are also some surprises: this time around, McBain displays a rather impish sense of whimsy. Investigating the murder of a once-famous concert pianist, Detectives Carella and Hawes encounter an odd clue that puts them in mind of a certain Alfred Hitchcock movie. Those readers who know McBain's film credits will enjoy the running in-joke (no one can remember who wrote the movie); others may be confused. On the other hand, another case involves the brutal murder of a prostitute, and McBain describes her last moments in graphic sexual language that may shock some readers. The 87th Precinct novels have never been pretty, but this one is more explicit than most. As always, the appeal of the novel is in its small details, and in the way McBain constructs a mystery that is at once baffling and entirely rational. An excellent (though, in some ways, quite different) addition to the series. David Pitt --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446605387
• ISBN-13: 978-0446605380
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,369,612 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 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT BOOK IN A SERIES OF GREAT BOOKS!!!!!!, July 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Nocturne: A Novel of the 87th Precinct (87th Precinct Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read about fifteen 87th precint novels. There all great. Ed mcbain is probably the most underated novelist today. He should really get more credit. Kepp craking them out ed!!!!we love em.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Romance continued or ... not?, April 30, 2000

By 

zimbee (Las Vegas, Nevada, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nocturne: A Novel of the 87th Precinct (87th Precinct Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Nocturne was one of the 87th Precinct novels I looked forward to most because I was hoping it will continue the stories started in Romance. I devour every Ed McBain/Evan Hunter book and I still have to find one that I did not love. Nocturne is still great, but not what I expected. Maybe that is why it left me a bit disappointed and betrayed. Nevertheless, it is another stellar addition to my library and I would not give it up for the world. Go, 87th Precinct, go!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the master strikes again, December 8, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nocturne: A Novel of the 87th Precinct (87th Precinct Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Mcbain gets better with every book,if thats possible.I enjoyed Nocture mostly for its fast pace,great suspense and of course those lovable cops.I have read every Mcbain I have been able to get my hands on and have yet to be disappointed!