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FIDDLERS is the last book in the 87th Precinct series (unless there are any more squirrelled away in a bottom drawer) following the death of Ed McBain earlier this year. And it's a great legacy from a great crime writer. I read the book ever so slowly simply because I couldn't bear to finish it. When I did, I felt a pang of sadness, but also closed the book with a smile on my face, as it seemed as good a place as any to leave the characters. The 87th Precinct gang have starred in more than 50 adventures, and they're as fresh as the day McBain created them back in the 1950s -- and they haven't aged at all since then. FIDDLERS has the crew investigating a series of seemingly unrelated murders. They can't understand what a blind war veteran and a woman of mature years have in common. The race to stop the killer is paralleled with scenes featuring the mysterious Charlie who appears to be behind the murders. Meanwhile, there are the usual outside distractions to contend with, including family difficulties for Carella, Ollie's continuing wooing of police officer Patricia Gomez (she's taken him home to meet the family!), and woman problems for Bert. At the heart of any 87th Precinct novel, though, is the heaving, living, breathing mass that is New York. Half of the fun of the books is sitting back and enjoying the cameo roles as they wander past. Most writers would sell their first-born to be able to capture a character in a couple of lines of snappy dialogue as McBain can. McBain is a class act, who makes writing look totally effortless. His books should be compulsory on all creative writing reading lists as an accessible and highly enjoyable lesson to any writer on how to plot and pace and characterise with a well-turned phrase. I'd been disappointed by ALICE IN JEOPARDY earlier this year, but FIDDLERS shows McBain bowing out in style and leaving us with wonderful memories of an enduring and formidable series.
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, September 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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