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87th Precinct is a police procedural novel series written by Evan Hunter under the pseudonym Ed McBain. The series novels have been adapted into movies and television on several occasions. This brilliant series is based on the work of a team of police detectives serving in the 87th Precinct in Isola a fictional city located in the New York City of Manhattan. Other fictionalized districts in the series mainly correlate the New York City’s other four boroughs, Majesta representing Queens, Calms Point serving Brooklyn, Bethtown substituting for Staten Island and Riverhead for the Bronx.
Order of 87th Precinct Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cop Hater | 1956 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | The Mugger | 1956 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | The Pusher | 1956 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | The Con Man | 1957 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Killer's Choice | 1957 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | Lady Killer | 1958 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Killer's Wedge | 1958 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | Killer's Payoff | 1958 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | King's Ransom | 1959 | Description / Buy | |
| 10 | 'Til Death | 1959 | Description / Buy | |
| 11 | Give the Boys a Great Big Hand | 1960 | Description / Buy | |
| 12 | The Heckler | 1960 | Description / Buy | |
| 13 | See Them Die | 1960 | Description / Buy | |
| 14 | Lady, Lady, I Did It! | 1961 | Description / Buy | |
| 15 | The Empty Hours | 1962 | Description / Buy | |
| 16 | Like Love | 1962 | Description / Buy | |
| 17 | Ten Plus One | 1963 | Description / Buy | |
| 18 | Ax | 1963 | Description / Buy | |
| 19 | He Who Hesitates | 1965 | Description / Buy | |
| 20 | Doll | 1965 | Description / Buy | |
| 21 | Eighty Million Eyes | 1966 | Description / Buy | |
| 22 | Fuzz | 1968 | Description / Buy | |
| 23 | Shotgun | 1968 | Description / Buy | |
| 24 | Jigsaw | 1970 | Description / Buy | |
| 25 | Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here! | 1971 | Description / Buy | |
| 26 | Sadie When She Died | 1972 | Description / Buy | |
| 27 | Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man | 1973 | Description / Buy | |
| 28 | Hail to the Chief | 1973 | Description / Buy | |
| 29 | Bread | 1974 | Description / Buy | |
| 30 | Blood Relatives | 1975 | Description / Buy | |
| 31 | So Long as You Both Shall Live | 1976 | Description / Buy | |
| 32 | Long Time No See | 1977 | Description / Buy | |
| 33 | Calypso | 1979 | Description / Buy | |
| 34 | Ghosts | 1980 | Description / Buy | |
| 35 | Heat | 1981 | Description / Buy | |
| 36 | McBain Brief | 1982 | Description / Buy | |
| 37 | Ice | 1983 | Description / Buy | |
| 38 | Lightning | 1984 | Description / Buy | |
| 39 | And All Through The House | 1984 | Description / Buy | |
| 40 | Eight Black Horses | 1985 | Description / Buy | |
| 41 | Poison | 1987 | Description / Buy | |
| 42 | Lullaby | 1989 | Description / Buy | |
| 43 | Vespers | 1989 | Description / Buy | |
| 44 | Tricks | 1989 | Description / Buy | |
| 45 | Widows | 1991 | Description / Buy | |
| 46 | Kiss | 1992 | Description / Buy | |
| 47 | Mischief | 1993 | Description / Buy | |
| 48 | Romance | 1995 | Description / Buy | |
| 49 | Nocturne | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 50 | The Big Bad City | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 51 | The Last Dance | 1999 | Description / Buy | |
| 52 | Money, Money, Money | 2001 | Description / Buy | |
| 53 | Fat Ollie's Book | 2002 | Description / Buy | |
| 54 | The Frumious Bandersnatch | 2003 | Description / Buy | |
| 55 | Hark! | 2004 | Description / Buy | |
| 56 | Fiddlers | 2005 | Description / Buy |
According to an interview and articles published, the author admitted that the Television series Dragnet majorly influenced the series. Even though the series focuses on police detectives from the 87th Precinct, different detectives feature in various novels, and most of the series books feature an important role of the authors leading character, Detective Stephen Louis.
McBain began the publication of 87th Precinct series in 1956 when the first book in the series Cop Hater was published. The series ran for over 50 books with Fiddlers published in 2005 marking the last installment in the series.
87TH PRECINCT AWARDS
Ed McBain prolific writing has won and also been nominated for various awards. For instance, The Last Spin was nominated for an Edgar Award for the Best Short Story while The Birds (1964) was an Edgar Award nominee for the Best Motion Picture category. In 1986, the author was awarded the Grand Master Award by the Mystery Writers of America. In 2002 McBain was nominated for an Edgar Award for the Best Novel, Money, Money, Money. In 1998, McBain became the first American to win the Diamond Dagger which was awarded by the British Crime Writers Association.
87TH PRECINCT BOOKS INTO MOVIES
Several of McBain novels have been adapted for the big screen filming. The Blackboard Jungle was adapted into a 1955 film about teachers working in an inter-racial city school. The film was directed and adapted by Richard Brooks.
King’s Ransom was adapted into a 1963 police procedural film titled High and Low by Akira Kurosawa featuring Tatsuya Nakadai, Toshiro Mifune, and Kyoko Kagawa. Buddwing was adapted into a 1966 film Mister Buddwing starring James Garner and directed by Delbert Mann. The Last Summer was adapted into a 1969 coming-of-age film themed on adolescent sexuality. It was filmed at Fire Island and stars Barbara Hershey, Catherine Burns, Richard Thomas, and Bruce Davison.
Without Apparent Motive, a 1971 movie is an adaptation of Ed McBain novel, Ten Plus One, written by Jacques Lanzmann, Vincenzo Labella, and Philippe Labro. Lady, Lady I Did It (1961) was adapted into a 1981 mystery movie directed by Kon Ichikawa and featuring Toshiyuki Nagashima, Yukata Mizutani, and Rie Nakahara.
BEST 87TH PRECINCT BOOKS
These are two best books in 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain, Cop Hater and Lady Lady I Did It.
Cop Hater: First published in 1956, the first novel in 87th Precinct series is a police procedural set in the fictional town of Isola, and it is about someone killing police detectives. Even though the story was written in 1956, the minorities and women receive better treatment in this book than many books published during the 1950’s. The lead character is Steve Carella who is engaged to a beautiful deaf mute called Teddy. This is something unexpected, but the author manages to make their relationship possible.
The novel takes place during a heat wave, and all the cops are scared to their nerves wondering which of them could be next.
Lady Lady, I Did It: The first thing detectives Bert Kling and Steve Carella saw was four bodies, all soaked in blood. Then Kling then discovered that one of them was Claire Townsend, his girlfriend and that is when the bookstore killings stopped being just another murder case to the cops of the 87th Precinct, for Kling was one of their own, and no one could get away with killing a policeman’s girl.
OTHER BOOK SERIES YOU MAY LIKE
If you fancy reading 87th Precinct series, then you will also enjoy reading “Peanuts Coronet” Series by Charles M. Schulz. The series consists of eighty novels and began publication in 1959, and its last book in the series was published in 1992.
The “Peter McGarr” series by Bartholomew Gill is also an ideal series for you. The series features Peter McGarr, a police detective based in Ireland as the lead character. Publication began in 1976 when the debut novel The Death of an Irish Politician was published and ended in 2002 after sixteen novels.
What Is The Next Book in The 87th Precinct Series?
There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The 87th Precinct Series. The newest book is Fiddlers and was released on January, 1st 2005.