Ed McBain: Mischief (USA 2003)

From the Publisher:
A punk wielding a spray can is no match for a killer armed with a gun -- and a deadly aim to knock off the city's graffiti artists. One by one, the young scribblers are found murdered, maliciously coated with paint and blood. Detective Steve Carella can't see the writing on the wall -- yet. Meanwhile, the Deaf Man, the 87th Precinct's longtime tormentor, is leading its cops, clue by maddening clue, to uncover a heinous crime that will make the graffiti killer look like an amateur. It's all primed to go down at a raucous rock and rap concert -- but who's going to take the rap?

Ed McBain: Mischief. A Novel of the 87th Precinct. Pocket Books, ISBN: 0743463099 (July, 2003), 420 p., $7.99.

Ed McBain: Mischief (UK 1994)

From the Publisher:
Somebody's killing graffiti writers. Somebody else is dumping grannies all over town. The city is on the thin edge of racial explosion. And the Deaf Man is back, with a vengeance. Taunting Steve Carella every step of the way...

'At the pinnacle of his powers, McBain offers a generous helping of ingenious crimes and solutions, with the outcome of the Deaf Man's machinations the neatest shock of the lot. -- THE SUNDAY TIMES
'Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novels belong among the classics... he can still write dialogue the way real people speak and his descriptions of characters and places make them leap into life.' -- SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

More exciting 87th Precinct novels by Ed McBain: Ghosts and Ten Plus One

Ed McBain: Mischief. The new 87th Precinct Bestseller. Coronet, ISBN: 0340603011 (August, 1994), 309 p., £5.99.

Ed McBain: Mischief (USA 1994)

From the Publisher:
"MASTERFUL...A PAGE-TURNER!" -- Denver Post
He calls himself the Deaf Man -- a master of malicious mischief... a brilliant trickster who thrives on chaos.

"INGENIOUS... RICHLY SATISFYING!" -- San Diego Union-Tribune
As elusive as smoke and evil as sin, he taunts and tantalizes his pursuers with cryptic clues and hints of disaster. And now he has returned to his favorite playground an untamed corner of the city where old people are abandoned like refuse... and outlaw graffitists die for their "art."

"MCBAIN IS A TREAT!" New York Daily News
The Deaf Man is back with a vengeance. And he has chosen one harried, overworked detective to act as his foil -- one beleaguered big city cop who must rescue an imperiled metropolis... or watch it die.

Join the 87th Precinct as they confront the Deaf Man in... EIGHT BLACK HORSES

Ed McBain: Mischief. The Deaf Man Returns. The new 87th Precinct Novel. Avon Books, ISBN: 0380713845 (July, 1994), 346 p., $5.99.

Ed McBain: Mischief (UK 1993)

From the Publisher:
Somebody's killing graffiti writers.
Somebody else is dumping grannies all over town.
In a city on the thin edge of racial explosion, a free rock and rap concert is scheduled for a weekend in the park. And oh, by the way, the Deaf Man is back.

In his first appearance for almost a decade, the nemesis of the 87th Precinct returns with a vengeance. Zeroing in on Steve Carella, his favourite foil, he bombards the squadroom with directives that seem to describe in detail exactly what he's up to this time but not quite.

While Carella and Brown try desperately to second-guess him, he meticulously puts together the crew he needs to pull off his multi-million dollar coup, taunting the Eight-Seven every step of the way, challenging them to discover what he's planned, daring them to stop him. True to form, the wrap-up is as ingenious as anything Ed McBain has ever written.

Ed McBain: Mischief. A Novel of the 87th Precinct. Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN: 0340589493 (September, 1993), 309 p., £9.99.

Ed McBain: Mischief (USA 1993)

From the Publisher:
"If I were charged with anointing the Homer of our times, McBain would at least rate my short list...! -- The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Only a handful of writers anywhere match McBain in combining comedy and menace. Every McBain is a treat." -- New York Daily News
"It's easier by far to set aside popcorn after two bites than to put down one of [McBain's] novels." -- The Washington Post
"Ed McBain is at the top of his game, plain and simple." -- USA Today

MISCHIEF - Novel of the 87th Precinct - ED MCBAIN

The Deaf Man is back! In his first appearance since Eight Black Horses in 1985, the nemesis of the 87th returns with a vengeance. Zeroing in on Steve Carella, his favorite foil, he bom-bards the squadroom with directives that seem to describe in detail exactly what he's up to this time-but not quite. What he's planning is his most devilish million-dollar caper to date.

In the squadroom, an otherwise slow March night is enlivened by the murder of a graffiti writer under a highway bridge. Over the course of several weeks, more of the city's outlaw artists are killed under mysterious circumstances, and a team run by Detective Parker begins to put the pieces together.

Meanwhile, a new criminal activity surfaces: Someone is abandoning helpless elderly men and women at different locations around the city.

As if all this weren't enough, racial tensions in the city are at an all-time high. While pressure mounts on various fronts, the city announces a free rap concert in the park, set for a day in the very near future.

As the shattering finale of Mischief looms, seemingly unrelated developments intertwine in an ending that sets a new standard even for McBain's most discerning fans.

It's been said that "nobody writes the police procedural as well as Ed McBain" (San Diego Union). And in his latest tale of the 87th Precinct, Mischief, McBain proves his mastery of the genre beyond reasonable doubt.

Ed McBain has won the Grand Master Award of the Mystery Writers of America. His last two 87th Precinct novels, Widows and Kiss, were national best-sellers.

Ed McBain: Mischief. A Novel of the 87th Precinct. William Morrow & Co., ISBN: 0688102212 (August, 1993), 346 p., $20.00.