Novelists have been turning out stories about crime since the early 1800s, and private detectives entered into the picture not long after. But police investigators didn’t gain a firm hold in the mystery and suspense genre until well into the twentieth century. And it wasn’t until the 1950s that the subject of how cops actually investigate crime began taking center stage. The single event marking that new direction was the publication in 1956 of Ed McBain’s first book in his extraordinary series of police procedurals, Cop Hater. The second, The Mugger, followed the same year. Like its predecessor, The Mugger depicts the police as fallible human beings. Some are capable investigators, some just marking time, and some are corrupt. The novels are set in a large city—a doppelgänger for New York City—and they reflect the place as it was a decade after World War II.
A shifting cast of characters
At McBain’s 87th Precinct, there is no single superstar investigator in the mold of Harry Bosch or Columbo. A detective named Steve Carella appears in Cop Hater but is absent on his honeymoon in The Mugger. In the later books, he occasionally leads investigations. But he never works alone, because crime investigation is a team affair. And others among the shifting cast of characters often play pivotal roles. In The Mugger the cop who actually cracks the case is patrol officer Bert Kling, who is not even (yet) a detective.
The Mugger (87th Precinct #2 of 52) by Ed McBain (1956) 212 pages ★★★★★
A mugger with a signature M.O.
The eponymous central figure in this novel is Clifford the Mugger. He has mugged a dozen women, and the press is having a field day with his signature M.O. After overpowering his victim and stealing her purse, he slugs her in the mouth as a warning not to talk about the crime. Then he bows from the waist, says “Clifford thanks you, madam,” and slips off into the night. But despite the frequency of Clifford’s crimes, the cops of the 87th Precinct are having no luck. The captain has called for a full court press, yanking his charges off other cases in hopes of wrapping up the matter and getting the press off his back. Then one of the muggings turns to murder, and a rookie patrolman finds a new angle to pursue.
A talented and perceptive writer
Make no mistake about it: the author of this straightforward crime novel is a talented and perceptive writer. Here, for example, he describes one of the neighborhoods in the territory of the 87th Precinct:
Here, bludgeoned by poverty, exploited by pushers and thieves and policemen alike, forced into cramped and dirty dwellings, rescued occasionally by the busiest fire department in the entire city, treated like guinea pigs by the social workers, like aliens by the rest of the city, like potential criminals by the police, here were the Puerto Ricans.
It should be no surprise that “Ed McBain” (a pseudonym) is also the author of Blackboard Jungle, one of the most celebrated and widely read novels of the 1950s and numerous other acclaimed works.
About the author
Ed McBain was the pseudonym under which the novelist Evan Hunter (1926-2005) wrote the fifty-two books of the 87th Precinct series of police procedurals. But his birth name was not Evan Hunter. In fact, he was born in New York City as Salvatore Lombino. And he wrote 119 novels, thirteen collections of short stories, two autobiographies, two plays, four screenplays, and three teleplays under a number of pen names.
Hunter was remarkably prolific. The Mugger was one of his five novels that appeared in 1956 alone. None of his books ever won an Edgar Award (although several were nominated for one). But he was named a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America in 1986. He had three sons.
For related reading
Earlier I reviewed Cop Hater – 87th Precinct #1 of 52 (The first of the original police procedural series).
For similar works, see The best police procedurals.
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