As a writer of crime fiction, it stands to reason that I read a lot of the same. In doing so, I discover writers who are such amazing talents that I simply cannot get enough of their work. Such is the case with Ed McBain, creator of the 87th Precinct novels. Thankfully, for me, McBain was insanely prolific, AND I am an insanely slow reader. McBain has written so many 87th Precinct books over the years that there will be several that I haven't read for years to come. Between 1956 and 2005 McBain wrote almost sixty 87th Precinct novels.
One of the interesting things about these books is that they aren't about a specific lead character (as most series tend to be) but instead feature the station house. In fact, it can be said that the station house is a character all its own. What McBain did with each book was allowed the story to dictate which of the characters would take center-stage for this tale, and let the others fall back to become supporting characters. While in the next novel, the main characters would shift around. This was a first for police procedurals, and it was something that came naturally for McBain. Who, by the way, wasn't really Ed McBain.
Ed McBain's legal name was actually Evan Hunter. Hunter took on the McBain pseudonym in 1956 because he wanted to have a different name to use for his detective novels, rather than use the same name he was using for his "serious" novels. And, to be accurate, Evan Hunter wasn't really Evan Hunter. Evan Hunter was born on October 15, 1926 with the name Salvatore Albert Lombino. Sounds kind of like the name of a mobster, doesn't it? Then it was in 1952 that Evan Hunter came into existence.
During his early career, when Hunter was working at a literary agency and submitting short stories to various magazines, he utilized several different pseudonyms: Hunt Collins, Curt Cannon, Richard Marsten, Ezra Hannon and John Abbott, among others. However, not long after the appearance of Ed McBain, Hunter dropped the other pseudonyms because he was focusing most of his efforts on his novels, primarily those featuring the 87th Precinct.
Hunter started writing short stories while he served in the navy during WWII. He wrote several short stories while serving on a destroyer in the Pacific, though most of those stories were never published until after he established himself as a writer in the 1950s. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Hunter College majoring in English and Psychology with minors in dramatics and education. And then in 1981 he was inducted into the Hunter College Hall of Fame where he was honored for his outstanding professional achievement.
After hearing so much about McBain's work, and having read several pages from several different books, I decided to take a serious look. I decided that the best place to start was the beginning, so I read McBain's first 87th Precinct book, a novel called Cop Hater. Needless to say, I was instantly hooked. Going back to 1956 and reading a Police Procedural shows us clearly how much police work has evolved over the decades. What was once cutting-edge police work would be considered reckless and ineffectual by today's standards. However, if you read through the entire series (I've skipped around a little) you find that McBain progressed with that evolution so that the procedure in his books was always up-to-date for the time.
In addition to his crime novels, McBain also wrote screenplays. I am sure that many, if not most of you, have seen the movie The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock? That screenplay was written by McBain. If you haven't seen it, what's wrong with you? Rent it and watch it. It's Hitchcock. Need I say more?
I just finished reading a collection of McBain's short stories called Learning to Kill. Nearly every story in it was extraordinary. Of course, as is usually the case with collections, there are a couple of the stories that I didn't much care for. There are just some stories that don't work for me for one reason or another. Out of the twenty-five stories in the book, I truly enjoyed more than twenty of them. And if you know how hard I am to please, then you know that's saying a lot for McBain's short stories.
If you haven't yet read anything from McBain, go out and pick up a copy of Cop Hater. And if you agree with me, then go through the list in order. If, however, you want to read his more modern procedurals, start with Fiddlers (2005) and work your way backwards. Either way you go, once you start you're going to want to read them all. Ed McBain is truly a Grand Master!
