Penguin crime fiction Series

Give the Boys a Great Big Hand

by Ed McBain

Published 2 September 1975

All over town, phones were ringing. Shopkeepers and merchants were being threatened by anonymous cranks. And the threats were getting more and more serious. When the angry victims started yelling to the local cops for help, Steve Carella and the boys of the 87th Precinct didn't know what to make of the whole thing. Were they facing a plague of harmless pranksters - or the danger of a city-wide wave of violence? All they had to go on were the constant attention of "the deaf man" and the knowledge that if they didn't catch their cold-blooded callers before the end of the month, the prophecies of murder and mayhem might prove all too true.

The Pusher

by Ed McBain

Published 25 June 1970

Two a.m. in the bitter cold of winter: the young Hispanic man's body is found in a tenement basement. The rope around his neck suggests a clear case of suicide - until the autopsy reveals he'd overdosed on heroin. He was a pusher, and now a thousand questions press down on the detectives of the 87th Precinct. Who set up the phony hanging? Whose fingerprints were on the syringe found at the scene? Who was making threatening phone calls, attempting to implicate Lieutenant Byrnes' teenage son? Somebody is pushing the 87th Precinct hard, and Detective Steve Carella and Lieutenant Pete Byrnes have to push back harder - before a frightening and deadly chain tightens its trip.

The Con Man

by Ed McBain

Published December 1963

A trickster taking money from an old woman for his own private charity. A cheater fleecing the businessmen of their thousands with the oldest gimmick in town. A lady-killer after the ladies' dollars with just a little bit of love...The guys of the 87th Precinct thought they knew every trick in the book - so why are there bodies still washing up on the shore? The Con Man: handsome, charming - and deadly.

Lady Killer

by Ed McBain

Published 3 September 1974

"I WILL KILL THE LADY TONIGHT AT 8. WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?" That's what the letter read. Was she that new hooker in town, the one who let her clients rape her like a lady? Or Lady Jay Astor, the sensual, bawdy songstress, who belted out the porno in extremely good taste? Or Mrs Bannister, a socialite mother who kept the purse strings too tight? Twelve hours to find a crank or stop a killer. And there would be no second chances for 'The Lady' if the boys of the 87th didn't guess right...

Kiss

by Ed McBain

Published 1 February 1992

Cop Hater

by Ed McBain

Published 25 June 1970

The heroes of the city's streets are becoming the hunted. When Detective Reardon is found dead, motive is a big question mark. But when his partner becomes victim number two, it looks like open-and-shut grudge killings. That is, until a third detective is killed. Swift, silent and deadly, someone is picking off the 87th Precinct's finest, one by one. The how of the killings is obvious: three .45 shots from the dark add up to three very dead detectives. The why and the who are the Precinct's big headaches now. With one meagre clue, Detective Steve Carella begins his grim search for the killer, a search that takes him into the city's underworld to a notorious brothel, to the apartment of a beautiful and dangerous widow, and finally to a .45 automatic aimed straight at his head ...

Killer's Wedge

by Ed McBain

Published 25 June 1970

Her name is death - and her name is Virginia Dodge. Virginia Dodge is determined to put a bullet through Steve Carella's brain, and she doesn't care if she has to kill all the boys in the 87th Precinct in the process. Armed with a gun and a bottle of nitro-glycerine she spends an afternoon terrorising Lieutenant Byrnes and his men with her clever little home-made bomb. Is there anything the boys at the 87th can do to save Carella or will this crazy woman achieve her goal ...? In one of the most dazzling novellas of the Precinct, Ed McBain exposes the dangerous loyalties that keep the boys of the 87th together, and threaten to tear them apart at the same time.

The Mugger

by Ed McBain

Published 26 May 1977

The 87th Precinct patrolmen aggressively pursue a mugger who preys on women after he puts one victim in the hospital and another in the morgue, but patrolman Bert Kling has a personal reason for stalking the criminal.

Big Man

by Ed McBain

Published 29 June 1978

Robbing the cars is Jobbo's idea. Frankie just goes along because it's too hot to do anything else, and he can't resist easy money. They walk along the East River, reaching into open windows and taking whatever they find. Mostly, it's just junk, until Jobbo picks up the .45. It's fully loaded, with the safety off, and Frankie is holding it when the cops come around the corner. The police open fire, and Frankie shoots back. What else is he supposed to do? Before he knows it, both cops are down, and he and Jobbo are running to meet their connection: the Big Man. With the gun in his hand and two fallen cops at his back, Frankie has a shot at becoming a "big man" himself, unless the law catches up with him first. A stunning portrait of urban crime, Big Man is vintage Ed McBain. A Mystery Writers of America Grand Master and the creator of the 87th Precinct series, McBain knew the dark side of New York better than anyone else, and in the city's shadows, there's no creature more terrifying than the Big Man.

'Til Death

by Ed McBain

Published December 1964

The groom in question is Tommy Giordano - and he's about to marry Steve Carella's sister, Angela. So the wedding party suddenly becomes a deadly game of hide-and-seek for Steve and the boys of the 87th Precinct. Tommy is "it" and Steve has only a few hours to find a killer and prevent Tommy from being tagged out for good. But how do you find a murderer with hundreds of wedding guests to choose from? Is it Tommy's best man, who would collect everything the groom owns if the killer finds his mark? Or Ben Darcy, who is still madly in love with the bride and would do anything to get her back? Or what about the crazy ex-GI who swore he'd get revenge against Tommy? Carella has to work fast, or someone is going to make Angela a widow on her wedding day...

Death of a Nurse

by Ed McBain

Published 22 May 1972