Kiss

Yesterday I reread Ed McBain's "Kiss". I had forgotten how good this one was. It starts off with a woman named Emma coming into the 87th precinct to report that a man is trying to kill her, has already made two attempts and failed, and now she realizes who he is: a man who used to drive her husband named Roger Turner Tilly. Then Tilly turns up dead. Emma's husband, Martin, hires a private detective from Chicago to come and be Emma's bodyguard. She quickly determines that her husband wants her dead and has hired Andrew (the bodyguard) to kill her--and she's right, that's exactly what's going on. Emma talks Andrew into turning on Martin, killing him instead of her, and promises to marry him so they can share Martin's fortune. What Andrew doesn't know is that the police have told Emma that they think Andrew's trying to kill her, and that he bought a certain type of gun. Emma lets Andrew commit the murder knowing the police already suspect him and will pin it on him, which they do. Unfortunately, they can't prove Emma had anything to do with it, and neither can Andrew, so off he goes alone to prison while Emma inherits all her husband's money. I love it!
Meanwhile (you know there's something else going on) Carella's attending the trial of the man who killed his father, and he ends up being acquitted. Ouch. Very sad.
I noticed that McBain dedicated this book to his second wife, Mary Vann, whom he divorced a few years after the book was published. In the dedication, he said it was for her because she worked so hard for it. Considering the theme of the book, I thought it was funny.

Mischief

Yesterday I finished rereading "Mischief" by Ed McBain. This is one of my favorites. There is just so much going on.
First of all, the Deaf Man is back, and he's planning on stealing the police department's haul of illegal narcotics that are scheduled to be incinerated. To create a diversion, he has planned to incite a riot at an outdoor concert taking place the same day.
One of the women Eileen works with on the Hostage Negotiating Team is shot and killed while Eileen is "working the door" during a hostage crisis. Bert Kling meets Sharyn Cooke, the doctor who operated Georgia, the police officer who was shot, and even though she is black and he is white, and she's a chief and outranks him, and is a doctor to boot, they start dating.
As if all this weren't enough, Meyer and Hawes are dealing with a man who is taking old people at the request of their families, and dumping them off in various locations in the city, hoping they won't be identified and returned. Ouch. I know it's hard to care for an elderly relative, but still. Yikes. And, believe it or not, this is tied in to thefts from a local nearby homeless shelter. McBain packs a lot into these pages, and it's very good.

Killer's Choice and Ghosts and Vespers

Three more rereads from Ed McBain.
"Killer's Choice" was an early one, the one where we meet Detective Cotton Hawes, who was supposed to take over as the "hero" of the series, since McBain's editor determined that women would not find a married man like Carella an appealing hero. He was an idiot, whoever he was. I like Hawes well enough, but Carella and Meyer are my favorites, and they are both married. Anyway, this one is about a woman named Annie Boone who is murdered, and the detectives have to figure out which one of her was killed in order to find the killer. See, Annie Boone was a different person to everyone who knew her: her ex-husband thought she was brilliant and vivacious and missed her dreadfully; her mother thought she was a dimwit; one boyfriend said she played billiards with the best of them and was really fun; another boyfriend thought she was a very refined lady who enjoyed ballet. In other words, a normal woman (at least, in my opinion. I like all sorts of seemingly unrelated past times--football, anyone?).
"Ghosts" I knew I had read before, but didn't really remember that well, because I didn't really like it. It was like a bad mix of "Law & Order" and the "X-Files"(which are wonderful when separate). Carella is investigating a murder of a man who writes about the supernatural, and the dead man's girlfriend is a medium. It was kind of silly.
"Vespers" is a really good one. A priest is murdered at his church, four blocks away from a Satan worshipping cult which ends up being tied into it in a very unexpected way. Detective Hal Willis (who I always kinda felt sorry for) is going through a personal crisis: his girlfriend, Marilyn, who was a prostitute in a former life and murdered her pimp to escape the life, stealing $2 million from him in the process, is being harassed by his cousin, who wants the money back. Marilyn doesn't completely confide in Hal, like a fool, she tries to protect him from any potential damage to his career. If I had a boyfriend who was a cop and some guys were coming after me, I would get a twenty-four hour guard on me. Well, I felt sorry for Marilyn, too. And the whole mystery of who killed the priest was great.

Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here

Yesterday I finished rereading another Ed McBain (no, there is no foreseeable end in sight). This one showed 24 hours in the life of the 87th precinct: the night shift and the day shift. The numerous different crimes, some more serious than others, were all solved in a relatively short period of time, within each detective's shift. I like this one because it has a lot of humor. It was fun.

Shotgun and the Heckler and Jigsaw

Three more rereads from Ed McBain.
First, "Shotgun". A couple is found dead in their apartment with shotgun wounds to the face. Not a pretty sight. After much legwork, the detectives find out that the man killed was not the husband but the woman's lover, and it was the husband that killed them both, using a shotgun to distort the features, making identification harder, so he could continue to live his life. I sympathize with cuckolded husbands, but really, murder? It's a little extreme.
"The Heckler" is an earlier one. The plot takes points from an Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story, "The Redheaded League" (which I highly recommend--anything about Sherlock Holmes!). Anyway, seemingly random local businesses are getting harassing phone calls, telling them to leave by the end of the month or die. One business, the one directly above a bank, gets phony deliveries of food, goods, all kinds of crazy stuff. One day an ad appears in the paper that the business is looking for redheaded girls to model their dresses, and boy, do they show up out of the woodwork! The boys at the 87th figure the heckler is trying to run the guy out of his loft so they can rob the bank below. Almost...but not quite. This book marked the first appearance of the Deaf Man, and it's a good one.
"Jigsaw" finds the boys trying to solve a 6 year old robbery. A bank was held up, and $750,000 was stolen and never collected. All four thieves died in a car wreck almost immediately after leaving the scene of the crime, but the loot wasn't in the car, meaning they dumped it somewhere for later pickup. An insurance investigator thinks he knows where the drop off point was, but he needs the 87th's help. Apparently the criminals took a picture of the spot, and cut the picture up into 8 pieces, and distributed it amongst themselves, giving their pieces to family or friends for safekeeping. The insurance investigator would like the boys to help him collect the pieces and find the money. Unfortunately, people in possession of said pieces are mysteriously dying.

Lightning and Doll

Okay, two more by Ed McBain. Yesterday I finished rereading "Lightning". This is a really juicy one, lots of stuff going on. Eileen poses as a serial rape victim hoping to catch a rapist who is--get this--raping Catholic pro-life supporters in the hopes of getting them pregnant and forcing them to have abortions to show how hypocritical they are deep down. Yikes! Eileen does indeed attract the serial rapist, who ends up cutting and raping her. As if that wasn't enough, the 87th has to deal with a murderer who's killing promising young female track stars, and one is found in Ollie Week's precinct (the 83rd in this book; later, it's the 88th). Turns out the killer was a former Olympic gold medalist track star who missed the fame and attention. In this book it seems like McBain was trying to show just how crazy people can be. He succeeded.
This morning it was "Doll" that I finished rereading, an earlier one. A beautiful model is murdered while her 5 year old daughter plays next door in her room with her doll. Carella figures out who the killer is and goes to make an arrest--by himself. He is overpowered and held hostage. The rest of the 87th has to try to find him before they kill him. Very good stuff.

Widows, Cop Hater, The Mugger, Killer's Payoff, Heat

Whew, I have some catching up to do! All these books are of course by Ed McBain. And I found 5 more in my closet earlier today, so I'm set for another few days.
On Thursday I reread "Widows" and "Cop Hater". "Widows" was a really great one: Carella's father is killed in a burglary at his bakery, the 87th is dealing with a bunch of murders involving a man and his many mistresses and wives, plus Eileen Burke is making the transition from being a decoy to a hostage negotiator. Meaty stuff. I loved the little inside joke about the house being bought by the "Bordens" and then the floor plan being the same as Lizzie Borden's house back in 1892. Around the same time McBain wrote this book, he also wrote a fictionalized account of Lizzie Borden and the murder of her stepmother and father of which she was acquitted. I haven't yet read McBain's book. It's not easy to get ahold of, but I wonder how many people picked up on his little funny. Very clever.
"Cop Hater" was the first in the series, written back in 1956. Three of the 87th's detectives are murdered. It turns out it was the lover of the wife of one of the cops who wanted to bump his girlfriend's hubby off and make it look like an unrelated string of murders targeting cops. Brilliant.
On Friday I reread "The Mugger", the second book in the series. Eileen Burke makes her first appearance in this one, posing as a decoy to help catch a mugger who thanks his victims afterward. Patrolman Bert Kling is promoted to Detective after helping to solve the murder of an old friend's sister-in-law, who was just 17.
Saturday I reread "Killer's Payoff". It had a kind of "Murder on the Orient Express" theme going on, where a group of men kill off a blackmailer.
This morning I reread "Heat". An apparent suicide turns out to be a murder, and Bert discovers his wife is cheating on him. Ouch. To make matters worse, there's a man bent on revenge who is stalking him, and almost succeeds in killing him...twice.

The Pusher

This morning I finished rereading Ed McBain's "The Pusher". It is the third book in his 87th precinct series, the one in which Det. Steve Carella was supposed to die. McBain did not want his books to have a "hero", he wanted the city to be the focal point. Luckily, his agent and publisher disagreed and Carella was granted a reprieve. This book finds the boys at the 87th dealing with heroin dealers--in 1957! McBain was ahead of his time. This time it's personal--Lieutenant Byrnes son, Larry, is hooked and Carella goes undercover to catch the pusher who is trying to frame Larry for the murder of a small time dealer. Great story.

Enter Whining and Total Access

Earlier today I finished reading two books. The first was "Enter Whining" by Fran Drescher. It was her first autobiography, written 5 years before "Cancer Schmancer". It was fun and lighthearted, and she sounded so much happier than she did in the later one. I guess having cancer, going through a divorce, losing your hit TV show, and having your dog die really brings you down. I totally understand.
The second book was "Total Access" by Rich Eisen, and it was even funnier than Fran's book. Rich has the coolest job in the world: he's an anchorman for the NFL network (and I bet you thought I was done with football books! Ha!). His life is football, 12 months a year. He goes to every Super Bowl, every Pro Bowl in Hawaii, the Draft, the mini-camps, owner's meetings, the Hall of Fame ceremonies, gets to interview athletes, and goes to regular season games. He sounds like he has the greatest time doing it, too. I should have majored in journalism instead of library science!

Woman in White and Nocturne and Fat Ollie's Book

On Friday I finished reading "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins. It was a very good mystery, but so long and complicated that by the end I was so confused as to who was who and what was going on! I should have kept notes along the way. I liked "The Moonstone" better, but this one was good, too.
I also read Ed McBain's "Nocturne". Since I owned it, I figured I had read it before, but it didn't sound the least bit familiar, so I'm going to say I read it for the first time on Saturday. It was very good. The boys of the 87th have an elderly, once famous pianist slain in what looks like a burglary. Ollie Weeks from the 88th precinct makes an appearance. I really like him; he's hilarious. He's a total jerk, not someone you would want to be friends with, but a good detective. Kinda like "House", on TV. Obnoxious but good at his job.
Today I reread "Fat Ollie's Book", also by Ed McBain. Det. Weeks has the manuscript of the novel he's writing stolen out of his car while he's investigating a murder of a city councilman getting ready to run for mayor. The 87th gets involved because the slain councilman lived in their area. Great use of the "book within a book" motif.

Eight Black Horses

Yesterday I reread "Eight Black Horses" by Ed McBain. One of my favorites, because it features the 87th's nemesis, the Deaf Man. The detectives start receiving first photocopies of different seemingly unrelated items: police hats, horses, pigs, etc. Then, after Christmas, each day for each of the 12 days of Christmas, they start receiving the actual items (the Deaf Man shots and kills 8 black horses in the police stable as a way of sending them, you see). On the 12 and last day, he has planted a bomb to go off in the squad room while all 12 detectives are there (12 roasted pigs, get it?). Through sheer luck his plan is foiled, and the Deaf Man escapes to torment another day.

Tricks and Ice

Yesterday I reread two Ed McBain novels about the 87th precinct: "Tricks" and "Ice". I know, I know: why, with all the good books out there that I haven't yet read, am I rereading all these books? I really don't know. Sometimes that is what I feel like doing. I've tried to ignore the urge and force myself to read new books, I've found I can't pay attention to the new one untill I've finished the old one.
"Tricks" (oh, and if you've never read McBain, you should. He's awesome, like "Law & Order", back when Lenny was there and it was cool) finds the boys at the 87th on Halloween dealing with midgets robbing convenience stores and cops getting shot. Also, Det. Eileen Burke is dealing with the trauma of her-on-the-job rape, and is acting as a hooker decoy to catch a rapist. Very good stuff.
"Ice" has three seemingly unrelated victims of gunshot murders. Their only connection seems to be that they all were killed with the same gun. Full of cocaine, theater, and rare gems, it's a great read.

Watchers

So, I decided to reread Dean Koontz's "Watchers" yesterday. What a great story, and how funny it was to think how different things were 20 years ago. The story involves Russians murdering American scientists to steal their secrets, people diving off boats to get to pay phones (no cell phones then), and, in one part, two cops are discussing the high cost of the new houses being built in Orange County. "At $180,000, they better be mansions" one cop says to the other, and I literally fell off the bed laughing. Were houses really that cheap back then? Oh, my lord! The average size home goes for what, $500,000 now in O.C., I think. What a shocking difference!
Of course, the best part of the story is the idea that a dog could be as intelligent as a human, that it could communicate. We who love our dogs often think they are that intelligent, and wish we knew what they were "thinking". It's sad how different Koontz's writing style is now: while he still introduces a couple of seemingly unrelated characters in the beginning and ties them together by the end, he no longer seems to put the time, effort, and detail into his work like he did in "Watchers". It was so rich, multi-layered, full of vibrant, rememberable characters. It's sad to compare it to what he's putting out these days.

The Darkest Evening of the Year

This morning I finished reading Dean Koontz's "The Darkest Evening of the Year". Last summer he and his wife, Gerda, lost their beloved golden retriever, Trixie. So Koontz was compelled to write this book honoring her spirit, and the spirit of goldens everywhere. In this book, a professional golden rescuer named Amy rescues a special dog named Nickie. Nickie, it turns out, is not an ordinary dog, but rather the spirit of Amy's murdered daughter Nicole as well as an angel sent from heaven who literally saves Amy's life by healing her stab wounds.
I understand Koontz's pain. When my dog died when I was 17, I cried for weeks. I loved my dog. It took me 8 years before I could stand having another one, and when she dies, I will mourn again. Why do we keep dogs as pets, knowing they will die before us? We do it because we love animals, we love the companions that dogs are, how they are better than humans and have their own special personalities. But, if you want a really good Dean Koontz book about a golden retriever, read "Watchers". Published 20 years ago in 1987 (oh, I feel old...), it was the first Koontz book I ever read and it still remains, in my mind, one of his best.

Trixie Belden and the Gatehouse Mystery; Trixie Belden and the Sasquatch Mystery

On Saturday I reread two Trixie's, one by Julie Campbell and the other by Kathryn Kenny. First off, I went online and found out about the authors. Julie Campbell was a real author who wrote the first 6 Trixies. She died in 1999. After the first 6, she didn't want to write them anymore, so then Random House, who published the books, employed in-house writers under the pseudonym "Kathryn Kenny" to write the other titles, which explains how uneven some of them are.
"The Gatehouse Mystery" is #3, and it's another one of my favorites. Trixie and Honey explore an abandoned gatehouse on the Wheeler's property and find a diamond. Trixie's older brothers, Mart and Brian, come back from their jobs at summer camp, and the five teens start the Bob-Whites of the Glen club, so this one is sort of like the first real book where everything gets started. The first two books sort of set up future events.
"The Sasquatch Mystery" (and I've forgotten which number it is, 17, maybe) is not very good, honestly. I just pulled one off the shelf that I hadn't read so many times I knew it by heart. This one finds Trixie and the gang camping in Idaho with her cousins, when they run into the mysterious creature known as Bigfoot, or Sasquatch. Was it real, or was it some guy in a fur suit trying to scare off campers to hunt for gold? The ending suggests both.