The Empty Hours by Ed McBain (Evan Hunter)Before CSI, before the Law & Order, there were the 87th Precinct mysteries. The starred Cotton Hawes, Meyer Meyer, Steve Carella and some others, and focused on the legwork of detecting and police procedures.Thus there are plenty of scenes of cops gabbing, thinking, and spending a lot of time checking stories. There is no corruption, no planted evidence, no bad policing due to racial overtones, just the facts, the chits for gas, the use of crappy cars, and working in fading, worn offices.McBain's prose is stripped-down, fast paced, and while not particularly memorable, does not get in the way of his stories.This book contains three stories, "The Empty Hours", "J", and "Storm", which were written in the very early 60's. Miranda warnings seem to be nonexistent and the need for warrants a little lackadaisical. Thus criminal civil rights are a little quirky in these stories, but probably representative of the time.LGBT readers should note that because these books were written in the 60s, when the society held a different sensibilities, some of the slang might be off-putting. On the other hand, McBain's narrative is not contaminated with bigotry. But your mileage may vary.
The fifteenth entry in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series consists of three novellas featuring the precinct's detectives. In the first, a wealthy young woman is found murdered in a room in a run-down boarding house. Why in the world was she living there, when she had loads of money and a very upscale home at her disposal? There's precious little evidence to go on, and Detective Steve Carella is reduced to going through her cancelled checks, grasping at straws in an effort to find her killer.In the second story, a rabbi is viciously stabbed to death on Passover. The precinct’s Jewish detective, Meyer Meyer, interrupts his own observation of the holiday to help Carella investigate the killing. The trail leads to a rabid anti-Semite, but can the detectives make a case?In the third story, Detective Cotton Hawes is off for a weekend skiing vacation with a tall, limber showgirl. He’s reserved two rooms, but things are definitely looking up when she asks to stay in his. Then some inconsiderate jerk commits a murder…
