Review of the 87th Precinct series part 2: The Mugger

Autumn has come to the city, and with it comes a gentleman caller. A mugger, who introduces himself to his victims as ‘Clifford’, begins targeting vulnerable women walking alone late at night, but with each new crime, the violence appears to be increasing until, eventually, tragedy strikes.

Patrolman Bert Kling is still recovering on leave, after being shot leaving a bar in the previous novel, when he is approached by an old friend he hasn’t seen in years. Peter Bell wants him to talk to his sister-in-law as a favour to his wife because they are both worried she is hanging out with the wrong crowd.

Bert does so, and receives a cold shoulder in response, but when her body is found, dead, at the bottom of a cliff,

several days later, soon finds himself compelled to investigate her murder.

With nothing to go on, and with very few leads, it soon appears the two cases are related - but can the boys of the ‘87 track down the mugger before he can strike again?

The Mugger is the second book in the 87th Precinct series and is quite unique in that it is one of the few not to feature Steve Carella who is away on his honeymoon. 

Unlike the previous novel, this one has aged but at the same time, perfectly reflects the time in which it was written. At one point, McBain describes the trouble of trying to identify a potential suspect by only one fingerprint as being as difficult as 

‘trying to unmask a Moslem woman’, and in another instance, just one of many, Detective Havilland uses his fists on a suspect in an interrogation room - rendering the suspect almost comatose despite his claims of innocence, backed up by the fact that not even Havilland himself really believes he has the right man.

This kind of systematic abuse, like I say, may be reflective of the times in which the book was written, but that doesn’t make it any easier to read.

On the other hand, this book does do a good job of introducing so many more classic ‘87 characters for the first time - amongst them, Detectives Hal Willis, Meyer Meyer, and Eileen Burke.

I really enjoyed re-reading this and again, is a fine example of classic McBain in that it sets up a murder and then relies on good old detective work to solve the case.

The fact that it focuses on many of the other characters of the ‘87 instead of relying on Carella to solve the case also makes it stand out and for me, this is another strong 5/5 stars!