Ed McBain: Fiddlers (USA 2006)

From the Publisher:
This installment in the 87th Precinct series finds the detectives stumped by a serial killer who doesn't fit the profile. A blind violinist taking a smoke break, a cosmetics sales rep cooking an omelet in her own kitchen, a college professor trudging home from class, a priest contemplating retirement in the rectory garden, an old woman out walking her dog -- these are the seemingly random targets shot twice in the face. But most serial killers don't use guns. Most serial killers don't strike five times in two weeks. And most serial killers' prey share something more than being over fifty years of age. Now it falls to Detective Steve Carella and his colleagues in the 87th Precinct to find out what-or whom-the victims had in common before another body is found.

With trademark wit and sizzling dialogue, McBain unravels a mystery and examines the dreams we chase in the darkening hours before the fiddlers have fled.

Ed McBain: Fiddlers. A Novel of the 87th Precinct. Harvest / Otto Penzler Books, ISBN: 0156032783 (September, 2006), 276 p., $14.00.

Ed McBain: Fiddlers (UK 2006)

From the Publisher:
Six victims. Same gun. No link. The final 87th Precinct novel from the master...
It started with the blind violinist - shot twice through the head at point-blank range in the alley outside his dingy restaurant. But it's only when the omelette lady gets shot with the same gun in the same way twenty-four hours later that the 87th Precinct really starts to sit up and take notice.

But Steve Carella and the boys at the Precinct always seem to be one step behind the killer, and are unable to prevent the death toll rising. The trouble is, while the gun is the same, none of the victims seem to be related in any way. And why is the killer heard to introduce himself as 'Chuck' before pumping two bullets into their bodies?

FIDDLERS is a brilliantly twisting puzzle of a book where nothing is as it seems and the pace never lets up - Ed McBain at his very best.

Ed McBain: Fiddlers. An 87th Precinct Novel. Orion Books, ISBN: 0752878026 (April, 2006), 229 p., £6.99.

Ed McBain: Fiddlers (USA 2005)

From the Publisher:
Ed McBain's latest installment in the 87th Precinct series finds the detectives stumped by a serial killer who doesn't fit the profile. A blind violinist taking a smoke break, a cosmetics sales rep cooking an omelet in her own kitchen, a college professor trudging home from class, a priest contemplating retirement in the rectory garden, an old woman out walking her dog--these are the seemingly random targets shot twice in the face. But most serial killers don't use guns. Most serial killers don't strike five times in two weeks. And most serial killers' prey share something more than being over fifty years of age. Now it falls to Detective Steve Carella and his colleagues in the 87th Precinct to find out what-or whom-the victims had in common before another body is found.

With trademark wit and sizzling dialogue, McBain unravels a mystery and examines the dreams we chase in the darkening hours before the fiddlers have fled.

Ed McBain: Fiddlers. A Novel of the 87th Precinct. Harcourt / Otto Penzler Books, ISBN: 0151012164 (October, 2005), 257 p., $25.00.

Ed McBain: Fiddlers (UK 2005)

From the Publisher:
It started with the blind violinist - shot twice through the head at point-blank range in the alley outside his dingy restaurant. But it's only when the omelette lady gets shot with the same gun in the same way twenty-four hours later that the police really start to take notice. But Steve Carella and the boys at the 87th Precinct always seem to be one step behind the killer, for while the gun is the same, none of the victims seem to be related in any way. And why is the killer heard to introduce himself as 'Chuck' before pumping bullets into their bodies?

Fiddlers is Ed McBain at his best - a twisting, turning puzzle book where nothing is as it seems and the pace never lets up. It once again proves McBain to be one of the true greats of modern crime writing.

Ed McBain: Fiddlers. An 87th Precinct Novel. Orion Books, ISBN: 075286954X (September, 2005), 259 p., £12.99.