FFB Review: The Big Bad City by Ed McBain

Back several weeks ago, Barry Ergang offered his review of The Big Bad City by Ed McBain who was also known under his legally adopted name of Evan Hunter. I realized when I was reading Barry’s FFB review that I had not read this one. As it was available from the Dallas Public Library in hardback, I picked it up and read the majority of it while at UTD waiting for Scott. For the full list of reading suggestions for this first Friday in September 2019, head over to Todd Mason’s Sweet Freedom Blog.

“So if you came here thinking, Gee, there’s going to be a neat little murder takes place in a town house and some blue-haired lady will solve it in her spare time when she isn’t tending her rose garden, then you came to the wrong city at the wrong time of the year. In this city, things were happening all the time, all over the place, and you didn’t have to be a detective to smell evil in the wind. (The Big Bad City, Page 32)

The detectives of the 87^th precinct, let alone the other precincts of New York City have their hands full. That was before a suspect in the precinct cage knifed a fellow suspect before being shot by Detective Carella. That resulted in two teams of paramedics being brought in and the obligatory visit from Internal Affairs Detectives on a mission to determine what the heck happened. It doesn’t help that it is August and the air conditioning in the precinct house is seriously on the fritz.

Then there are the murders.

One murder is the dead young lady found in Grover Park in front of a park bench. One could tell by looking at her throat she had been strangled. Detectives Brown and Carella had been ready to call it a day and go home when their boss, Lieutenant Brynes sent them out on the case. A case that is going to become incredibly complex.

The burglar nicknamed “The Cookie Boy” continues to do his deal of breaking into places and stealing stuff before leaving a container of homemade chocolate chip cookies behind.  Detectives Mayer and Kling have been on that case quite a while. A case that may now involve two murders.

The detectives are not the only ones on the hunt in the city. So too is a man bent on revenge. His target is one of the detectives of the 87^th precinct. Like some of the other two legged predators that travel through New York City, murder is on his mind.

The Big Bad City: A Novel Of The 87^th Precinct is a complicated police procedural with many moving parts. Like others in the series, it is a solidly good read. As noted in the above quote, this is not a read for cozy readers who prefer sanitized language and situations.

The Big Bad City: A Novel Of The 87^th Precinct

Ed McBain

https://www.edmcbain.com

Simon & Schuster

https://simonandschuster.com

January 1999

ISBN# 0-684-85512-7

Hardback (also available in various formats including paperback and digital)

272 Pages

$25.00

My reading copy came from the downtown branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2019

FFB Review: THE BIG BAD CITY (1999) by Ed McBain Reviewed by Barry Ergang

Barry Ergang is back on the blog today with an all new review for FFB. For the full list of reading suggestions, check out Todd Mason’s Sweet Freedom blog.

THE BIG BAD CITY (1999) by Ed McBain

Reviewed by Barry Ergang

The dead woman who “lay sprawled in front of a bench in Grover Park” in the 87^th Precinct “was wearing a white blouse and pale blue slacks, white socks and scuffed Reeboks.” The detectives assigned to the case are Steve Carella and Arthur Brown. Who the woman actually is and what the detectives uncover about her and her past takes them into the pasts of other suspects and events with some surprising revelations.

Meanwhile, the man who murdered Carella’s father has been persuaded that he needs to do the same to Carella lest he wind up in prison for life or dead at the hands of other inmates, and begins to stalk his next victim.

At the same time, detectives Meyer Meyer and Bert Kling pursue the burglar who has come to be known as The Cookie Boy because he leaves a batch of home-made chocolate chip cookies at the homes of his targets. A man who prides himself on his scrupulous and considerate approach to burglary, as well as on his love for baking, he finds himself on the run when events turn catastrophic during a particular foray.

A Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, Ed McBain is probably the most well-known of the many pseudonyms of the versatile novelist Evan Hunter. The 87^th Precinct series has long ranked as one of the greatest series—perhaps the greatest—of police procedural novels, notable for its three-dimensional characterizations via internal and external dialogue, impeccable pacing, drama, suspense, and humor.

Raw language and racial slurs occur as part of some characterizations, so readers easily offended should avoid this one. To those not offended, this is an easy recommendation.

© 2019 Barry Ergang

Some of Derringer winner Barry Ergang's work is available at Amazon and Smashwords.