Ed McBain: Fiddlers

The last book I read was Fiddlers by Ed McBain.

Synopsis: 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 24 hours later that the 87th Precinct really start to sit up and take notice.

I've read several McBain 87th Precinct crime novels and they're all excellent.
Fast-paced,with lots of speech,a wry,often black sense of humour,believable characters and always great whodunnits! Sadly,Ed McBain died in '05 and Fiddlers was his last book,but there's a massive back catalogue to catch up on.

Out of curiousity shadforth, which do you consider to be McBain's best book? I've only read 'Ice' and 'Sadie When she Died' by this author.

I've read a good number of McBain's 87th Precinct novels and a Matthew Hope one, Rumpelstiltskin, I think it was. I've also read Downtown, which is not part of any series but just a general mystery-thriller.
I consider them to be capably written with engaging characters, I like Steve Carella and Meyer Meyer of the 87th the best, I think.
Please don't ask me to pick the best book as I haven't read them all, and I haven't even looked at any he wrote as Evan Hunter, Ezra Hannon, Richard Marsten, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins or John Abbott.

I would say Ghosts,and The Big Bad City are two of the best 87th Precinct novels,but they're all good,and I can honestly say I've never thought any of the titles I've read by McBain were below-par. It's amazing to think the 87th squad started in the '50s and was still going strong 50 years later. I think some of them were filmed,but didn't do so well as movie adaptions. I've read about a dozen of McBain's 87th books,so still have a rich back catalogue to plunder.

I read a good few of them too,they are good but need a bit of space betwin readings or one get a bit bored(I don't get that with Richard Spark serie of Parker)
I love Ollie charactere in his disgusting ways,fat but super callipso dancer,deeply revolting in every way but one get use to him and start too like him after a while.
Fat ollie's book is great,the book of the policeman stolen by a mexicain transexuel junky.Ollie's book passage are hillerious,badly writen and naive.