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Fiddlers: A Novel of the 87th Precinct (87th Precinct Mysteries) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "The manager of Ninotchka was a wiseguy named Dominick La Paglia..." (more)
Key Phrases: Father Michael, Alicia Hendricks, Father Joseph (more...)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

MWA Grand Master McBain's 55th 87th Precinct police procedural suffers by comparison with 2004's Hark! as well as other top books in this iconic series, but still has plenty of good moments. A killer living the high life is exacting the last full measure of revenge. As his victims pile up, the 87th falls prey to the FMU or "first man up" rule. Since the initial victim, a blind violinist shot in the face, was done on the 87th's turf, all subsequent murders are theirs as well. More are not long in arriving; each victim shot in the face at close range with the same 9mm Glock. The whole cast of the 87th is stretched thin trying to track down clues in geographically disparate killings. This gives McBain license to update us on such matters as the romance between Bert Kling and Sharyn Cooke and Fat Ollie Weeks's courtship of Patricia Gomez. All are searching for the one lead that will pan out gold. While McBain siphons off some suspense by making the reader privy to the killer's actions, and his trademark dialogue isn't as crisp as usual, he still delivers dependable entertainment.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Bookmarks Magazine

Over his lifetime, McBain wrote more than 100 novels, short stories, and screenplays. In these works, he helped define the police procedural genre with his gritty urban realism and flesh-and-blood characters. Critics agree that Fiddlers, his last work (McBain died this past July), is a fitting end to his long career—and a rewarding, if not perfect, cap to his 87th Precinct books. Readers familiar with this series will find the usual endearing characters and settings—Carella, his hearing-impaired wife, and their adolescent twins, and the fictional New York City metropolis of Isola. In a new twist, McBain examines the perspective of the killer, a tactic that sheds light on the latter’s murderous motives but diminishes suspense. All told, "McBain was a master, and his tales of the city are timeless" (Washington Post).

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Harcourt; 1 edition (September 12, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0151012164
  • ISBN-13: 978-0151012169
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #735,348 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Ed McBain
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The manager of Ninotchka was a wiseguy named Dominick La Paglia. Read the first page
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Father Michael, Alicia Hendricks, Father Joseph, Christine Langston, Calm's Point, Our Lady of Grace, Max Sobolov, Harding High, Helen Reilly, Beauty Plus, Patricia Gomez, Professor Langston, Father Nealy, Angel Dust, Jenny Cho, Naomi Maines, Panty Block, Charles Purcell, Grand Theft, Grandma's Bloomers, Martin Reilly, Mercer Junior High, Paula Wellington, Sadie Harris, Sands Spit
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4.5 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars God speed, Salvatore!, September 7, 2005
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Sadly, Salvatore Lombino, alias Evan Hunter, alias Ed McBain has gone to his just rewards.

No other writer has been as consistently good for as long as McBain, who started this series in 1956. Admittedly, I did not like the 87th Precinct novels at first, but I became hooked when I bought a three-for-one anthology at a booksale. Police procedurals stress plot over characterization and it took me that long to get to know Steve Carella, Meyer Meyer, Cotton Hawes, Burt Kling and the rest.

McBain is a master at weaving together subplots, and FIDDLERS is no different. The detectives of the 87th are on the trail of a serial killer who seems to be targeting senior citizens: a blind violinist, a cosmetics sales rep, a college professor, a priest, and an old woman out walking her dog. We also get a brief look at Carella's personal life as his thirteen-year-old Twins are growing up. There's also some social commentary as Burt Kling deals with his bi-racial relationship. The novel ends with a hook, pointing toward the next in the series: Fat Ollie's love affair with Patricia Gomez seems headed for trouble as he turns to Andy Parker, of all people, for advice.

I have a feeling McBain was working right down to the end, as he often completed two novels a year, as McBain and his alter ego Evan Hunter. But if there are no further Precinct novels, I plan to start all over with COP HATER and THE MUGGER if I can find them. Although McBain always kept some 50s elements in his newer work, it'll be fun to compare the early work with his modern stuff.

God speed, Salvatore!
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fiddlers is pure gold, August 30, 2005
By Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
Fiddlers is the latest (and, given the recent death of author Ed McBain, presumably the last) of the remarkable series of "87th Precinct" police procedural novels -- more than fifty books published over a period of fifty years. The usual cast of detective characters is here: Steve Carella, Meyer Meyer, Kling, Brown, Parker and even Fat Ollie Weeks. And as has been the focus of the last several 87th Precinct novels, the story is as much about their personal lives as about the crimes they investigate. There is a serial killer on the loose, but a serial killer murdering at a furious pace -- a new victim every few days, two bullets fired into the face. But what connects the victims? A blind violinist, a cosmetic sales rep, a college professor, a retired priest ... "Fiddlers" in the end is about relationships. Beginning relationships, ending relationships, relationships too fleeting to have a proper beginning or ending, destructive relationships, redemptive relationship.

If this is indeed the final 87th Precinct novel, then it was a fine note on which to end the symphony.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Star Finale, October 16, 2006
By Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Fiddlers: A Novel of the 87th Precinct (87th Precinct Mysteries) (Paperback)
Though it had to be, what a shame to end the series on such a downbeat note, with Steve Carella's little April, once the apple of his eye, turning into a gang girl, and her opposite number, the boy twin, becoming a snitch, a rat, of the worst description, telling on April as soon as it's convenient. Those twins once were the highwater mark of cute kids in the detective novel, now they're just like slimy movie kids. Their mother seems incapable of keeping up with the changes puberty brings. Yes, she can sign "No drugs!" as loudly as she can, and it may work the first time, but eventually the kids will do their own thing, rebelling against the unusual home setup (obsessed cop dad and signing Mom) and wanting to be like other more normal families.

However, Ed McBain's tragic death deprives us of resolution, and I expect something in the man delighted in this, for he had a pretty good opinion of himself and, much like you and I, considered himself one of the great American novelists. Irreplaceable. I for one don't want any V C Andrews scam occurring to the 87th Precinct series. We loved him for his writing pure and simple.

FIDDLERS is pretty good and it's miles better than that wretched book where Ollie Weeks was writing a novel, remember that? Its lame parody of bad writing, presented in standard 87th Precinct facsimile form? Yikes was that awful. This one is much better, and although the actial revenge plot borrows quite a bit from Cornell Woolrich's two 1940s thrillers THE BRIDE WORE BLACK and RENDEZVOUS IN BLACK, the addition of the red-headed prostitute, Reggie, turns the human interest up a notch, so we become interested in the unlikely pairing of serial killer and call girl.

Why "FIDDLERS" though? OK, the first victim played the violin. Maybe there's some larger, overarching metaphor here. Funny thing that FIDDLERS should be Ed McBain's last book, while FIDDLERS THREE was the last play that Agatha Christie wrote. Nothing but a coincidence, but I'm just saying.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The original
Ed McBain's 87th Precinct mysteries are the original or model police procedurals. I won't really call them mysteries as they are different from model mystery books where readers... Read more
Published 3 months ago by John B. Goode

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good
The crimes are solved because of good police work. McBain interweaves the investigation of serial killings with the detectives personal lives. Read more
Published 6 months ago by M. Griffin

3.0 out of 5 stars Good

This kind of novel is a little off the beaten path for me, but I had always wanted to read a McBain mystery, and now having done so, I'm glad I did. Read more
Published 15 months ago by David Blanton

4.0 out of 5 stars A decent end to a landmark series of novels
Having read more than half of the fifty-five 87th precinct novels written by the recently deceased Ed McBain, I think they break down into two categories. Read more
Published on February 13, 2007 by Lifesamystery

5.0 out of 5 stars Fiddlers
"Fiddlers" is the 55th and last novel of the 87the Precinct by Ed McBain who passed away in 2005 shortly before this novel was published. Read more
Published on September 11, 2006 by Ricky C. Nelson

5.0 out of 5 stars I hate to see these draw to a close...
I'm sad to see the 87th Precinct series draw down to a close... This is (I believe) the first 87th Precinct novel released after Ed McBain's death... Read more
Published on July 10, 2006 by Thomas Duff

3.0 out of 5 stars A Too Dark Tale From a Legend
I have read 87th Precinct novels for 45 years and always enjoyed them. I didn't dislike this one but have no trouble believing it was the author's last work. Read more
Published on April 16, 2006 by Bonner '62

5.0 out of 5 stars Whatever heaven you sought, may it be yours always
Fiddlers: A Novel of the 87th Precinct is the 58th and final novel in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series. Born in 1926 as Salvatore Lombino, he passed away in 2005 from cancer. Read more
Published on April 13, 2006 by Jody Rose

5.0 out of 5 stars Last Is Best
Sadly, Ed Mcbain died before this novel was published. Yet it is the culmination of years of writing the mystery genre. Read more
Published on February 24, 2006 by Al Jablonski

3.0 out of 5 stars It's Ed McBain
I love the 87th Precinct novels & this one is great.

There are 5 murders commited in different Precinct's but all end up in the 87th. Read more
Published on February 18, 2006 by true crime reader

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