Monday, February 14, 2022

Books read in 2022: No. 5 -- Killer's Payoff

by Ed McBain

Started: Feb. 10
Finished: Feb. 14

Notes: These 87th Precinct books are probably my favorite series of fiction of all time, so I'm always glad to read one of them. And this is an early one, published in 1958, and those tend to be even better than the later ones. Interesting thing, I found this book in a used book store, and after I purchased it I discovered there were several sheets of notebook paper inside which appear to be notes from a college-level writing class and are about this author, Ed McBain, so I'll be interested in reading those too.

Mini review: There were some firsts here, or so I believe. I think this was the first 87th Precinct novel in which Steve Carella was not the main character, though he was important enough to the tale. Cotton Hawes was the main character, and McBain did well with the character. This was also a real mystery, more so than many a police procedural, and the outcome is honestly surprising, or at least it was to me, not so much in the details of the crimes but in the who committed them. I have to admit this one started off slow for me, but it picked up speed about halfway through and finished just great.

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