87th Precinct
Encyclopedia
The 87th Precinct is a series of police procedural
novels and stories written by Ed McBain
. McBain's 87th Precinct works have been adapted, sometimes loosely, into movies and television on several occasions.
, a district of a large fictional city based on the New York City
borough
of Manhattan
. Other districts in McBain's fictionalized version of New York correspond to NYC's other four boroughs, Calm's Point standing in for Brooklyn
, Majesta representing Queens
, Riverhead substituting for the Bronx, and Bethtown for Staten Island
.
"The city in these pages is imaginary. The people, the places are all fictitious. Only the police routine is based on established investigatory technique."
In interviews and articles, McBain has freely admitted that his series was heavily influenced by the radio
and TV series Dragnet
. This introduction, simultaneously evoking and contradicting Dragnets introductory phrase, "The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent," was apparently McBain's way of acknowledging the debt, yet announcing his intention to go his own way in every book.
's office; and Detective Ollie Weeks (a.k.a. "Fat Ollie"), a central character in several 87th Precinct novels even though he is in fact on the squad of the neighboring 88th Precinct.
Another recurring character was the Deaf Man
, a Professor Moriarty
-like criminal mastermind who appeared in six novels, enjoyed plotting elaborate crimes to bedevil the men of the 87th, but by miscalculations on his part, and the blind luck of the detectives, was foiled.
Hunter's final book Learning To Kill, was published in July 2006 under his Ed McBain pseudonym. It is a volume of short stories written between 1952 and 1957, including some that inspired and became 87th Precinct mysteries.
The following books excerpted chapters from 87th Precinct novels:
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
novels and stories written by Ed McBain
Evan Hunter
Evan Hunter was an American author and screenwriter. Born Salvatore Albert Lombino, he legally adopted the name Evan Hunter in 1952...
. McBain's 87th Precinct works have been adapted, sometimes loosely, into movies and television on several occasions.
Setting
The series is based on the work of the police detectives of the 87th Precinct in IsolaIsola (fictional city)
Isola is a section of a fictional city that is the setting for the 87th Precinct series of police procedural novels written by Ed McBain ....
, a district of a large fictional city based on the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Other districts in McBain's fictionalized version of New York correspond to NYC's other four boroughs, Calm's Point standing in for Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, Majesta representing Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, Riverhead substituting for the Bronx, and Bethtown for Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
.
Relation to Dragnet
Each novel begins with the same disclaimer:"The city in these pages is imaginary. The people, the places are all fictitious. Only the police routine is based on established investigatory technique."
In interviews and articles, McBain has freely admitted that his series was heavily influenced by the radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and TV series Dragnet
Dragnet (series)
Dragnet is a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners...
. This introduction, simultaneously evoking and contradicting Dragnets introductory phrase, "The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent," was apparently McBain's way of acknowledging the debt, yet announcing his intention to go his own way in every book.
Characters
The series focuses on the detectives of the 87th Precinct, and although different detectives will "star" in different novels, most 87th novels feature a significant, if not a starring role for Detective 2nd Grade Stephen Louis "Steve" Carella. Carella's fellow precinct detectives include Arthur Brown, Eileen Burke, Roger Havilland, Cotton Hawes, Bert Kling, Meyer Meyer, Andy Parker, Bob O'Brien, Hal Willis, Alex Delgado, and Richard Genero. (During investigations Carella is most often partnered with Meyer, Hawes, or Kling.) In the first novel in the series, Carella is partnered with a detective called Bush. Bush's wife has hired someone to murder Bush, as well as two other officers who are not mentioned in the other novels. The detective squad commander is Lt. Peter Byrnes. Also seen frequently, and lending a certain continuity to the series, are the minor characters Alf Miscolo (the clerk in charge of records and coffee) and desk sergeant Dave Murchison, as well as a large cast of regulars who do not work at the 87th, including Steve's deaf-mute wife Theodora "Teddy" Carella; the buffoonish and arrogant homicide detectives Monoghan and Monroe, who always appear together; the crime lab supervisor Sam Grossman; Medical Examiner Paul Blaney (and later his twin brother Carl) from the Coroner's Office; police informants Danny Gimp and Fats Donner; Rolly Chabrier and Nellie Brand from the District AttorneyDistrict attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
's office; and Detective Ollie Weeks (a.k.a. "Fat Ollie"), a central character in several 87th Precinct novels even though he is in fact on the squad of the neighboring 88th Precinct.
Another recurring character was the Deaf Man
The deaf man
The Deaf Man is a character in the 87th Precinct series of police procedurals by author Ed McBain .The Deaf Man is a criminal mastermind who appears in a number of the novels, usually plotting some spectacular crime while sending clues to the 87th Precinct, as if daring the detectives there to...
, a Professor Moriarty
Professor Moriarty
Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was...
-like criminal mastermind who appeared in six novels, enjoyed plotting elaborate crimes to bedevil the men of the 87th, but by miscalculations on his part, and the blind luck of the detectives, was foiled.
Hunter's final book Learning To Kill, was published in July 2006 under his Ed McBain pseudonym. It is a volume of short stories written between 1952 and 1957, including some that inspired and became 87th Precinct mysteries.
Ed McBain on writing an 87th Precinct novel
"I usually start with a corpse. I then ask myself how the corpse got to be that way and I try to find out-just as the cops would. I plot, loosely, usually a chapter or two ahead, going back to make sure that everything fits - all the clues are in the right places, all the bodies are accounted for...(I) believe strongly in the long arm of coincidence because I know cops well, I know how much it contributes to the solving of real police cases."The 87th Precinct Mysteries
- Cop HaterCop HaterCop Hater is the first 87th Precinct police procedural novel by Ed McBain. The murder of three detectives in quick succession in the 87th Precinct leads Detective Steve Carella on a search that takes him into the city's underworld and ultimately to a .45 automatic aimed straight at his...
(1956) - The MuggerThe Mugger (novel)The Mugger is a novel by Ed McBain, the second in his 87th Precinct series. It was adapted for a film of the same name in 1958. In 2002 the author wrote an introduction to this and to his earlier novel Cop Hater when both were published in an omnibus edition.-Plot:A mugger is attacking women in...
(1956) - The Pusher (1956)
- The Con Man (1957)
- Killer's Choice (1957)
- Killer's PayoffKiller's Payoff-Plot:Sy Kramer, a blackmailer, is shot dead in a 1937-style drive-by execution. But it is 1958 and Cotton Hawes and Steve Carella have to find out who killed him. It could have been Lucy Mencken, a rich and respectable lady with a past that included some very unrespectable photographic...
(1958) - Lady Killer (1958)
- Killer's Wedge (1959)
- til Death (1959)
- King's Ransom (1959)
- Give the Boys a Great Big Hand (1960)
- The Heckler (1960)
- See Them Die (1960)
- Lady, Lady I Did It (1961)
- The Empty Hours (1962) - collection of three short novellas
- Like Love (1962)
- Ten Plus One (1963)
- Ax (1964)
- He Who Hesitates (1964)
- Doll (1965)
- 80 Million Eyes (1966)
- Fuzz (1968)
- ShotgunShotgun (novel)Shotgun is the twenty third 87th Precinct novel by Ed McBain.-Brief plot summary:Would you kill someone for love? Someone did. A man and a woman die from shotgun wounds...
(1969) - Jigsaw (1970)
- Hail, Hail the Gang's All Here (1971)
- Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man (1972)
- Sadie When She Died (1972)
- Hail to the Chief (1973)
- Bread (1974)
- Blood Relatives (1975)
- So Long as You Both Shall Live (1976)
- Long Time No See (1977)
- Calypso (1979)
- Ghosts (1980)
- Heat (1981)
- Ice (1983)
- Lightning (1984)
- Eight Black Horses (1985)
- Poison (1987)
- Tricks (1987)
- Lullaby (1989)
- Vespers (1990)
- Widows (1991)
- Kiss (1992)
- Mischief (1993)
- Romance (1995)
- Nocturne (1997)
- The Big Bad City (1999)
- The Last Dance (2000)
- Money, Money, Money (2001)
- Fat Ollie's Book (2002)
- The Frumious Bandersnatch (2003)
- Hark! (2004)
- Fiddlers (2005)
Short stories
- And All Through the House (1984), later published as a 40 page novella in 1994
- Reruns (1987)
- Merely Hate (2005) a short story in the anthology titled Transgressions, edited by Ed McBain
The following books excerpted chapters from 87th Precinct novels:
- McBain's Ladies (Short Stories) (1988)
- McBain's Ladies, Too (Short Stories) (1992)
Other media
- Cop HaterCop Hater (film)Cop Hater is a 1958 American police procedural film, based on the 1956 novel Cop Hater by Ed McBain, the first in a series of books about the 87th Precinct in New York City. The film was produced and directed by William Berke, written by Henry Kane, and stars Robert Loggia and Gerald S...
(19581958 in filmThe year 1958 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 16- "In the Money" by William Beaudine is released on this date. It would be the last installment of The Bowery Boys series which began back in 1946....
) movie - The Mugger (1958) movie
- The Pusher (19601960 in filmThe year 1960 in film involved some significant events, with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho the top-grossing release in the U.S.-Events:* April 20 - for the first time since coming home from military service in Germany, Elvis Presley returns to Hollywood, California to film G.I...
) movie - 87th Precinct87th Precinct (TV series)87th Precinct is an American crime drama starring Robert Lansing, Gena Rowlands, and Ron Harper, which aired on NBC on Monday evenings during the 1961–1962 television season.-Synopsis:...
(19611961 in televisionThe year 1961 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1961.For the American TV schedule, see: 1961-62 American network television schedule.-Events:...
-621962 in televisionThe year 1962 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1962.For the American TV schedule, see: 1962-63 American network television schedule.-Events:...
NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
) television series co-starring Robert LansingRobert Lansing (actor)Robert Lansing was an American stage, film and television actor.Born in San Diego, California as Robert Howell Brown, he reportedly took his acting surname from the state capital of Michigan. As a young actor in New York City, he was hired to join a stock company in Michigan, but was told he would...
, Gena RowlandsGena RowlandsGena Rowlands is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy...
, Ron HarperRon Harper (actor)Ronald Robert "Ron" Harper is an American television and film actor.- Biography :Harper was born in Turtle Creek in Allegheny County near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Mabel Grace Champion and George Harper...
, Gregory WalcottGregory WalcottGregory Walcott is an American television and film actor. He is perhaps best known for having appeared in the 1959 Ed Wood film, the cult classic Plan 9 from Outer Space.-Early life and career:...
, and Norman FellNorman FellNorman Fell , born Norman Noah Feld, was an American actor of film and television, most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers.-Early life:... - 87th Precinct (1962) comic book series
- Tengoku to Jigoku (High and Low) (19631963 in televisionThe year 1963 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1963.-Events:*January 13 – BBC Television broadcasts the play The Madhouse on Castle Street in the Sunday-Night Theatre strand...
Japan), movie directed by Akira KurosawaAkira Kurosawawas a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;... - FuzzFuzz (film)Fuzz is a 1972 American action comedy film directed by Richard A. Colla and starring Burt Reynolds, Yul Brynner, Raquel Welch, Tom Skeritt, and Jack Weston. The screenplay was written by Evan Hunter, based on the 1968 novel of the same name that was part of the "87th Precinct" series he wrote under...
(19721972 in filmThe year 1972 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Avanti!, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet MillsB...
) movie - Sans Mobile Apparent (Without Apparent Motive) (1972 France/Italy) movie
- Les Liens du Sang (Blood Relatives) (19781978 in filmThe year 1978 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California....
France/Canada) movie - Polishataren (Cop Hater), (1990 Sweden) graphic novelGraphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
written by Claes ReimerthiClaes ReimerthiClaes Reimerthi is a Swedish comic writer, having worked with characters such as The Phantom and Bamse. Reimerthi has written more than 100 stories about The Phantom and is a member of Team Fantomen, the Swedish "braintrust" that set the line of what is going to happen to The Phantom.During the...
and drawn by Martin Sauri - The Stand: the Complete & Uncut Edition (19901990 in literatureThe year 1990 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*J. K. Rowling gets the idea for Harry Potter while on a train ride from Manchester to London. She says "I was staring out the window, and the idea for Harry just came. He appeared in my mind's eye, very fully formed...
) by Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
has a minor character, "Edward M. Norris, lieutenant of police, detective squad, in the Big Apple's 87th Precinct" (pg 71). Steve Carella is briefly mentioned. - Columbo: No Time to Die (aka So Long as You Both Shall Live) (19921992 in televisionThe year 1992 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1992.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:*Hallmark Hall of Fame .*Guiding Light .*The Today Show ....
) television movie - Columbo: Undercover (aka Jigsaw) (19941994 in televisionThe year 1994 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1994.For the American TV schedule, see: 1994-95 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-Miniseries:...
) television movie - Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: Lightning (19951995 in televisionThe year 1995 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1995.For the American TV schedule, see: 1995-96 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
NBC) television movie - Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: Ice (19961996 in televisionThe year 1996 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1996.For the American TV schedule, see: 1996-97 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
NBC) television movie - Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: Heatwave (19971997 in televisionThe year 1997 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1997.- Events :-Debuts:-Miniseries:*Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac, a reunion of the 1979–93 series*The Last Don...
NBC) television movie - The Last Best Hope (19981998 in literatureThe year 1998 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*March 5 - Tennessee Williams' 1938 play, Not About Nightingales, receives its stage première....
), a novel in McBain's Matthew Hope series, features Steve Carella as a supporting character.
Reference
- Prial, Frank J., "Why readers keep returning to the 87th Precinct", The New York Times, July 9, 2005. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
- 87th Precinct
- Ed McBain sings Hill Street Blues, Associated Press story, in TV Week, printed in Ocala Star-Banner, April 30, 1983. Retrieved April 12, 2011