Fat Ollie's Book

by Ed McBain

Published 24 December 2002
Irritating though he was, Lester Henderson had it all when he strode up to rehearse his keynote address in the darkness of a downtown theatre. Widely tipped to be the next mayor and possessing a nice line in catalogue-casual daywear, Henderson stood four-square facing his glorious future. But five shots later and his lifeblood was seeping away. He had been gunned down by persons unknown from stage-right...At that point he became Ollie Weeks' problem. But this savage crime is suddenly overshadowed by a deed even more repugnant. Ollie's life work is his novel. Honed by countless rejection letters, it is finally ready to be released to the general populace. But then the one and only manuscript disappears, leaving Ollie to head off in pursuit of the thief. A thief who is convinced that Ollie's work contains the secret location of a hoard of hidden diamonds...

Money, Money, Money

by Ed McBain

Published 28 August 2001
Cassandra Lee Ridley is an ex-air force pilot who now scrapes a living flying low-level contraband over the border to Mexico. But, Cassandra has a taste for the better things in life and when she gets offered a $200,000 contract to fly what she assumes are drugs, she takes a deep breath and agrees to do it. The job goes perfectly, the deliveries are made and the money paid to the Mexican drug lords. One problem though. All $1.9 million dollars of the payment are fake - and printed in Teheran, of all places. The Mexicans soon want their money - and Cassandra is their first stop and first fatality. And when her naked body is thrown to the lions in a zoo in the 87th Precinct, New York, it becomes Detective Steve Carella's problem. Soon, the whole world has gone mad, the Mexicans are on the rampage, two beautiful blond girls are killing to their own agenda, a New York drugs dealer gets sucked in - and spat out - and even Arab terrorists make their own play...