Ed McBain: Fat Ollie's Book (USA 2010)

From the Publisher:
All at once, Fat Ollie Weeks had a truly brilliant idea...
But as any real writer could tell you, that's how inspiration strikes -- with the sudden force of a violent crime. Known more for his foul mouth and short temper than his way with words, Detective Weeks has written a novel. But just as Isola is rocked by the murder of a mayoral candidate, the only copy of Ollie's manuscript is stolen -- and an all-too-real adventure begins as a thief follows Ollie's fictional blueprint to find a $2 million cache of nonexistent diamonds. Now, the 87th Precinct races to bring poetic justice to a cold-blooded assassin -- and someone's about to add another chapter to the colorful career of Ollie Weeks, a cop who's never played by the book...

Ed McBain: Fat Ollie's Book. A Novel of the 87th Precinct. Pocket Books, ISBN: 9781451623420 (October, 2010), 334 p., $22.99.

Ed McBain: Fat Ollie's Book (USA 2003)

From the Publisher:
All at once, Fat Ollie Weeks had a truly brilliant idea...
But as any real writer could tell you, that's how inspiration strikes -- with the sudden force of a violent crime. Known more for his foul mouth and short temper than his way with words, Detective Weeks has written a novel. But just as Isola is rocked by the murder of a mayoral candidate, the only copy of Ollie's manuscript is stolen -- and an all-too-real adventure begins as a thief follows Ollie's fictional blueprint to find a $2 million cache of nonexistent diamonds. Now, the 87th Precinct races to bring poetic justice to a cold-blooded assassin -- and someone's about to add another chapter to the colorful career of Ollie Weeks, a cop who's never played by the book...

Ed McBain: Fat Ollie's Book. A Novel of the 87th Precinct. Pocket Books, ISBN: 0743410335 (December, 2003), 334 p., $7.99.

Ed McBain: Fat Ollie's Book (UK 2003)

From the Publisher:
Lester Henderson has it all. Widely tipped to be the next mayor he faces a glorious future - until he is gunned down by person or persons unknown. At that point he becomes Ollie Weeks' problem. Uncharacteristically first to the scene, Ollie lands the murder of the decade. But the crime is overshadowed by a deed even more repugnant. Ollie's life's work is his novel. Honed by countless rejection letters, it is finally ready to be inflicted on the nation when the one and only manuscript is stolen from Weeks' car by a thief who is convinced that Ollie's opus contains the secret location of a hoard of diamonds...

'Give thanks that you share the same time span with an absolute master. There is nothing and no one around guaranteed to give the same sharp excitements, the same steady delight' -- LITERARY REVIEW

Ed McBain: Fat Ollie's Book. Orion Books, ISBN: 0752842765 (December, 2003), 291 p., £5.99.

Ed McBain: Fat Ollie's Book (UK 2003)

From the Publisher:
Murder on stage...
Irritating though he was. Lester Henderson had it all when he strode up to rehearse his keynote address in the darkness of a downtown theatre. Widely tipped to be the next mayor and possessing a nice line in catalogue casual daywear. Henderson stood foursquare facing his glorious future. But five shots later and his lifeblood was seeping away into the wood of the podium gunned down by persons unknown from stage-right...

At that point he became Ollie Weeks problem. Uncharacteristically first to the scene, Ollie gets landed with the murder of the decade. Handsome, young and well-connected, Lester is going to cause even more problems in death than he did in life.

But then this savage crime is overshadowed by a deed even more repugnant. Ollie's life's work is his novel. Honed by countless rejection letters, A Report to the Commissioner was finally ready to be inflicted on the nation's populace. But then the one and only manuscript disappears from Weeks car. The populace breathes a sigh of relief, but Ollie heads off in pursuit of the thief. A thief who is convinced that Ollie's oeuvre contains the secret location of a hoard of hidden diamonds...

Brilliantly pacy, expertly constructed and fabulously politically incorrect, Fat Ollie's Book confirms Ed McBain's position as one of crime-writing's masters.

Ed McBain: Fat Ollie's Book. Orion Books, ISBN: 0752856359 (January, 2003), 271 p., £12.99.

Ed McBain: Fat Ollie's Book (USA 2002)

From the Publisher:
Murders happen every day in the big bad city. They're not such a big deal, you know. Even when the victim is a city councilman as well known as Lester Henderson.

But this is the first time Fat Ollie Weeks of the 88th Precinct has written a novel, ah yes. Called Report to the Commissioner, it follows a cunning detective named Olivia Wesley Watts, who, apart from being female and slim, is rather like Fat Ollie himself. While Ollie's responding to the squeal about the dead councilman, his leather dispatch case is stolen from the back of his car -- and in it, the only copy of his precious manuscript.

Joined by Carella and Kling from the neighboring 87th Precinct, Ollie investigates the homicide with all the exquisite crudeness, insensitivity, and determination for which he is famous. But the theft of his first novel fills Ollie with a renewed passion for old-fashioned detective work.

Following the exploits of one of Ed McBain's most beloved detectives, this lively and complicated novel -- the fifty-second in the award-winning 87th Precinct series -- is perhaps his best book yet.

Ed McBain: Fat Ollie's Book. A Novel of the 87th Precinct, Simon & Schuster, ISBN: 0743202708 (December, 2002), 271 p., $25.00.