Ed McBain: The Mugger

From the Publisher:
The mugger was special. He preyed only on women. He waited in the darkness, coming from behind to snatch their bags. Then he punched his victims and told them not to scream. As the women reeled with pain and fear, he bowed, and said, 'Clifford thanks you, madam.'

The cops in the 87th Precinct are not amused. They want the mugger and they want him bad. Especially after he puts one victim in hospital... and the next one in the morgue.

The dead girl was pretty and only seventeen. And patrolman Bert Kling has a personal reason to go after her murderer... a reason that becomes a burning obsession and an easy way for a cop to get killed.

Ed McBain: The Mugger. An 87th Precinct Novel. Orion, ISBN: 0752857924 (July, 2003), 160 p., £5.99