M is for Ed McBain

I recently read two Ed McBain novels: The Mugger and The Pusher. These are the 2nd and 3rd in a series, following the first book, Cop Hater. Since my theme for the Crime Fiction Aphabet 2013 meme is police procedurals, I had to include Ed McBain and his 87th Precinct novels.

Ed McBain was a pseudonym of Evan Hunter (October 15, 1926 – July 6, 2005) . This pseudonym was used for his series of novels about the cops in the 87th Precinct in Isola (a thinly disguised New York). Evan Hunter was born Salvatore Lambino; he legally changed his name to Evan Hunter in 1952. Per Mike Ashley, in The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Modern Crime Fiction: "The name Ed McBain was concocted to cover the author's less 'sophisticated' material, keeping his more significant pen-name, Evan Hunter, for serious mainstream novels."

I had read nothing at all by Ed McBain until about a year ago, when I read Cop Hater. I enjoyed that novel, which was fortunate since I had already purchased over ten books in the series in anticipation of reading the whole series ... eventually.

The titles of the books I read are fairly indicative of the crimes investigated. In The Mugger, the 87th Precinct is plagued with a mugger who only attacks women, always hits them, and always leaves them saying: "Clifford thanks you, Madam." Eventually, a murder occurs which could be connected. In The Pusher, a very young drug addict has committed suicide. But there is some evidence at the scene that is confusing to the cops following the case.

The 87th Precinct books give the details of an investigation, but along the way we get glimpses into the policemen's lives. The policemen involved seem like real people, not idealized versions of detectives. Some are bullies, some are more dedicated to looking for the truth. Throughout The Mugger, McBain intersperses items from the investigation: fingerprint sheet, police forms, even a map of a crime scene. As the crime is investigated in The Pusher, the complex steps to evaluate the small amounts of usable evidence found at a crime scene are described. Yet even though this may seem dry, the result in each case is a very entertaining book that moves at a brisk pace.

I am not a great fan of long doses of descriptive prose in a novel, but some of McBain's descriptive passages are just extraordinary. And the miracle is... he does not overdo them.

Cop Hater is set in the summer, during a heat wave. The oppressive weather figures in the crime and the investigation. When reading these two books back to back I noticed that The Mugger is set in the fall, and The Pusher is set in the winter.  This might have been because The Pusher starts with a bang that you cannot miss:

Winter came in like an anarchist with a bomb.

Wild-eyed, shrieking, puffing hard, it caught the city in cold, froze the marrow and froze the heart.

The wind roared under eaves and tore around corners, lifting hats and lifting skirts, caressing warm thighs with icy-cold fingers. The citizens blew on their hands and lifted their coat collars and tightened their mufflers. They had been enmeshed in the slow-dying lethargy of autumn, and now winter was upon them, rapping their teeth with knuckles of ice.

Both of the books I read were comparatively short in length, each under 160 pages. Reading these two books was like reading one of the longer books I have read recently. I understand that the later books were longer, but I am enjoying these shorter ones while they last.

On a personal note, in the 80's and the 90's, I had a co-worker who loved the 87th Precinct novels. She knew I liked mysteries, and she was always suggesting that I read the latest book he had published. And I was always declining to try the series. Now, I look back and wish I had listened to her. On the other hand, now I have the whole series ahead of me and a lot of books and entertainment to look forward to. 

The Crime Fiction Alphabet is sponsored by Mysteries in Paradise.  Please visit this post to check out other entries for this letter.

Other reviews here:
At Tipping My Fedora, Sergio is reading and reviewing the series in order.
At Yet Another Crime Fiction Blog, Keishon reviews The Pusher.
At Confessions of a Mystery Novelist..., Margot puts the spotlight on The Cop Hater.

These books are also submitted for the Vintage Mystery Challenge in the Leave It to the Professionals category, which includes books featuring cops, private eyes, secret service, etc.

Mount TBR Reading Challenge: 2nd Quarter Summary

For the second year, I am participating in the Mount TBR Reading Challenge. I have more unread books than I will ever read, and this challenge motivates me to work away at the older books in my stacks, boxes, and bookshelves. The host, Bev at My Reader's Block, is calling for the second quarterly check-in post. Check out other summary posts here.

This quarter I have read 13 books that count toward the Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2013. Combined with the 15 I read in the first quarter, I have read a total of 28 books toward my goal of 36 books. So, I am on target.



The books I have read in April, May, June are: 

1. The Stately Home Murder by Catherine Aird
2. The Ransom Game by Howard Engel
3. Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss
4. Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
5. A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
6. Ten Second Staircase by Christopher Fowler
7. Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza
8. Fell Purpose by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
9. Kaleidoscope by J. Robert Janes
10. Death Wore White by Jim Kelly
11. Daemons Are Forever by Simon R. Green
12. The Mugger by Ed McBain
13. The Pusher by Ed McBain

My favorite character in this set of books was Inspector Espinosa of the First Precinct in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who appears in Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza. He is a book lover and a philosopher.

I purchased Silence of the Rain in late 2009, so I have had that book about 3 and a half years. The book I have had longest in this set is Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie. I purchased that book at the Planned Parenthood book sale in September 2005 (the event I wait for each year). I have been collecting copies of Agatha Christie books that long and have just in the last year begun my project of re-reading most of her books.

Once Upon a Time VII: Wrap Up

I read only four books for the Once Upon a Time Challenge at Stainless Steel Droppings, although my goal was to read five books. The event included reading or viewing from four broad categories: Fairy Tale, Folklore, Fantasy and Mythology. I stuck mostly with fantasy although I guess Princess Bride is also of the fairy tale type of story.

This was the first time I had participated, and my goal was to dabble in fantasy after a long break. I enjoyed all the books I read and some of them were spectacular. You can check out the Review Site where participants posted links to any book or screen posts related to this event.

The books I read for this event were... 

• The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny
• The Princess Bride by William Goldman
• Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
• Daemons are Forever by Simon R. Green

Although I don't enjoy fantasy in general as much as other genres, I did discover more about what I like and dislike in fantasy fiction, and have a lot of of fantasy books I plan to read in the next year or two.

My favorite read for the challenge was Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. That one is a blend of fantasy and mystery and it has all the elements of a police procedural. I was pulled in by the cover art, but I would not have been open to paranormal elements in a mystery in the past.

The one book that I most regret not reading is The Black Company by Glen Cook. I think I would like that book. If I don't read it before then, I will definitely include it in the next Once Upon a Time Challenge reading.

Thanks to Carl V. Anderson at Stainless Steel Droppings for hosting this challenge.

L is for The Last Policeman

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters is my submission for the Crime Fiction Alphabet at Mysteries in Paradise this week. Please visit the post at Mysteries in Paradise to check out other entries for the letter L.

Description from the publisher's website (Quirk Books):

The Last Policeman presents a fascinating portrait of a pre-apocalyptic United States. Industry is grinding to a halt. Most people have abandoned their jobs. But not Hank Palace. As our story opens, he’s investigating the latest suicide in a city that’s full of suicides—only this one feels wrong. This one feels like homicide. And Palace is the only one who cares. What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die?

This is two books in one. Half the time, the book is describing the inevitable effects that an asteroid heading towards earth is having on the populace. Half the time, the story follows a policeman investigating a crime, as if it has just as much importance now as when everything was normal. Half the time, this reader was considering how foreknowledge of an apocalyptic event would affect me personally, how I would live those last months and why the characters in this book made their choices. The other half of the time, I was reading the book as a straight police procedural. And the book succeeds in both areas.

Detective Hank Palace has just recently been made a detective.  My  theory for why he is so dogged in pursuing the crime (or possible crime) is because this is what he has always wanted to do, and he knows there won't be much time left to do it. Not only is the normal fabric of life falling apart, the police department is decimated. There are fewer employees in any role in the department, and there is very little oversight as to how the job gets done. The other detectives either don't believe the suicide is actually murder, or don't care whether the murder gets caught, or both.

Palace follows normal police procedure where he can. The medical examiner is still working and taking her job seriously, so he does have the resources of some forensics analysis. He does interview coworkers, relatives, witnesses. And he has more leeway because the laws have changed. In some cases, laws are more lax; in other cases, more strict. It affects the investigation.

The detective's character is the most fully developed. His backstory is doled out in pieces, a technique I like. There are other interesting characters who are peripherally involved in the case. The reactions and behaviors of other detectives illustrate the uncertainty that everyone deals with on a daily basis in this environment. The author has done an excellent job of creating his version of what the world could be like in this situation.

Another thing to note: I have had problems in the past adjusting to reading books which use present tense to tell the story. The Last Policeman is the first book using present tense that has been a comfortable read for me. This could be just getting use to the idea, but I credit the author's talented storytelling. It took me a while to even notice.

Other reviews:
My husband's review at Goodreads.
At In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel.
At Crimepieces.

Daemons Are Forever: Simon R. Green

The first line in this book is:

The name's Bond. Shaman Bond. The very secret agent.

This should give the reader a hint: This book spoofs the James Bond series, and it is going to be humorous.

Shaman Bond is the assumed name of Edwin Drood when he is living in London, in what we know as the real world. Edwin comes from a very large clan, the Droods, who live in a compound outside of London.

As Edwin, or Eddie, describes it:

The world isn’t what you think it is. Hell, even London isn’t what you think it is. There are monsters around every corner, creatures in every shadow, and more dark conspiracies and secret wars going on than you can shake a really big stick at. You never get to know about this because the Drood family has field agents everywhere, to keep the lid on things and make sure everyone plays nice. When they don’t, we kill them. We don’t believe in second chances; we believe in stamping out fires before they can spread.

My family has been keeping the world safe for almost two thousand years. We’re very good at it.

Daemons Are Forever (2008) is the second book in a series of seven books (the Secret Histories series). This is the type of series where a lot happens in the first book, and if I describe much of what happens in the second one, it can spoil the story for you.

On the other hand, this book can easily be read as a stand-alone. There is plenty of rehashing of the history of Edwin Drood and his family, and what has happened in the last book. I was grateful for all of that because it had been years since I read the first one and I needed a refresher course. Others who have read the books closer together have complained about this very element.

I found this to be a very entertaining book, and I do admire Simon R. Green's storytelling. But I will be honest and say that fantasy is just not my thing.

I did some research into the elements of fantasy fiction to try to understand why I don't generally care for fantasy. I have a wonderful book called Genreflecting: A Guide to Popular Reading Interests (Sixth Edition), which is a 500 page overview of various genres and their elements, and suggestions for reading from these genres. It is aimed at librarians, of course, but I love browsing through it.

Genreflecting (and other sources I read) defines fantasy works as being set in an internally consistent created world and including magic or paranormal elements. In some cases, the created world may be hidden from the real world setting (as much as possible); in other cases, it is the only world.

Both Daemons Are Forever and Rivers of London (which I reviewed recently) are cases where the real world exists pretty much like our world, and the world with fantastic elements and creatures is separate, or at least hidden.

I preferred Rivers of London because the protagonist is of the real world and just getting introduced to the idea that there is a world with magic, ghosts and vampires that needs to be controlled. In Daemons Are Forever, Eddie Drood's world is teeming with supernatural creatures, and he coexists and makes deals with them to save the world. But that is just me; I think a lot of people who enjoy fantasy would really like this book and the series.

My son introduced me to this series. He thought I might like it because of the James Bond element. I will be continuing the series through the third book, because I have it in house. My son is that far into the series. From what I have read, the series was intended to be a trilogy, but was popular enough to justify adding more books to the series. If we find more in the series, we will continuing reading it further.

I will leave you with this description of the Secret Histories series, from a review at Tor.com by Michael M. Jones. The review is of the 6th book in the series, and the reviewer is a big fan of all of Simon R. Green's books:

The Secret Histories has always been Green’s attempt to blend his usual urban fantasy material—the Nightside books, Ghost Finders, Drinking Midnight Wine, and so on—with a James Bond attitude. Rather unsubtly, Eddie Drood’s secret identity is “Shaman Bond,” and the book titles are also a dead giveaway. However, Live and Let Drood doesn’t just evoke James Bond, it also conjures up the spirit of The Avengers (British version) with the Department of the Uncanny. (Characters named Patrick and Diana show up, obviously named for Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg, AKA Steed and Peel and even I noticed that…)

I’ve long held that Green’s books make for excellent popcorn reading. They’re widescreen adventures, blockbusters with unlimited budgets and absolutely no restraint or sense of decorum. The body counts are high, the stakes higher, the sense of wonder undeniable. They defy genre, incorporating elements of science fiction, fantasy, espionage, mystery, and more. Green’s characters always have the best lines, the best toys, and the best poses.

This was my fourth book for the Once Upon a Time Challenge at Stainless Steel Droppings. I had committed to reading five books for the challenge, but did not make that goal. I did discover more about what I like and dislike in fantasy fiction, and have a lot of of fantasy books I plan to read in the next year or two.

A New Cat in Our Life: Rosie

We found a new cat about a week and a half ago. Meet Rosie!

This is my husband's description of our cat search:

On Saturday we went first to the Humane Society and then to County Animal Services.

The latter had a large number of cats for adoption and a large number of people looking at them.

We kept coming back to look at a young (1.5 years) mostly-white number with calico splotches and tabby head/tail and it was her that we went home with.

Her name is Rosie and she has the largest ears I've seen on a small cat.

She is fairly subdued but affectionate and chatty. Interestingly, she does not bite. At all.

She's a keeper.

Some notes of interest. At least to me.

On the biting, our first cat, Bink, did bite. Not ferociously or meanly. But if she did not like how you touched her, watch out.

Rosie doesn't bite, but she has attacked our feet while we were sleeping...or at least trying to sleep. And she has this whirling dervish behavior (on the bed, at night) I have never seen before.

I think she is settling in. We have never had a cat this young before. It feels like having a new baby in the house, and I am getting no sleep. I hope that will change.