The big bad city - Ed McBain

There's the murdered woman whose outstanding physical characteristic is her breast implants. Which doesn't surprise anyone in a big bad city like Isola - until they find out that she's a nun . . .

There's the nagging problem of The Cookie Boy, a burglar with a taste for chocolate chip cookies.

And there's Detective Steve Carella's own, personal little quandry. The man who murdered Carella's father - and got away with it - is back in Isola. And he's decided that the best way to secure his future freedom is to murder Carella too.

The master of the police procedural is back, with another masterpiece of crime, punishment and brilliantly observed mayhem.

Ed McBain is one of the most illustrious names in crime fiction. In 1998 he was the first non-British author to be awarded the Crime Writers' Association/Cartier Diamond Dagger Award and he is also a holder of the Mystery Writers of America's coveted Grand Master Award. He has written more than eighty works of fiction, including the heralded 87th Precinct series and the acclaimed Matthew Hope series. His real name is Evan Hunter and he lives in Connecticut.

You are watching a virtuoso at work...McBain never puts a foot wrong
Guardian

McBain in brilliant, exemplary form
Literary Review

The upper echelons of thriller writing
Daily Express