Ed McBain was the crime fiction pseudonym of Evan Hunter (1926-2005), a U.S. author who wrote extensively under both names. He was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1986 and was the first U.S. recipient of the Diamond Dagger from the British Crime Writers Association. He’s most well-known for his series of 55 books about the fictional 87th Precinct of the New York City Police Department. I loved his books about Matthew Hope, another lawyer who likes to investigate more than he likes to draft briefs.
The 41st book in the 87th Precinct series Lullaby (William Morrow, 1989) is set on New Year’s Eve, or more exactly, in the early hours of New Year’s Day. Gayle and Peter Hodding come home to their high-rise apartment after attending a party a few blocks away to find their 6-month-old baby smothered in her crib and the teenage babysitter on the hall floor with a knife in her chest. Detectives Steve Carella and Meyer Meyer answer the call. Both with children of their own and both appalled despite their years on the force.
About the same time Bert Kling turns a corner on his way home and finds three large black men beating a small Puerto Rican man. He stops to help and ends up shooting two of the men. It seems he walked into an argument over drug selling territories, which turns into a complex plot line about full-on gang warfare.
Eileen Burke is still grappling with the aftermath of a savage attack in one of the earlier books and the impact of a shooting. She schedules sessions with a police psychologist to help with her decision to leave the force.
Carella and Meyer learn that there was a burglary on a different floor in the same building as the double murder close to the same time and try to link the two. Then they find out the babysitter had broken up with her boyfriend a few days previously, and he was angry and distraught. Despite the multiple lines of inquiry, finding a strong potential suspect takes longer than anyone wants and results in a number of surprises.
I read several of this series years ago because everyone raved about them but the books never held any great fascination for me, I don’t know why. This title in particular is distressing as to the subject, both the child murder and the gang warfare are described in depressingly graphic detail. Eileen’s burnout is almost palpable; I fear her situation is typical of any law enforcement type who does not develop a thick outer shell. Not a happy new year at the 87th Precinct.
For fans of realistic police procedurals.