Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast.

This episode is all about the 37th book in the series - a brutal and dark tale of serial criminals. We discuss if this is McBain at his most difficult - violence against women, issues of race and much more. Along the way, we also discuss where Evan Hunter was in his career, including some of his notable failures (published and otherwise) and look again at his disgust at the success of Hill Street Blues.

We'll be back soon with our look at the original publication designs, our editions and more 1984 context in our bonus episode.

Fare thee well.

Hark! Bonus Interview with Erin MacDonald

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast special edition.

Joining Paul for this interview is author and professor of English, Erin MacDonald. Erin wrote the essential guide to Evan Hunter's many works, "Ed McBain/Evan Hunter - A Literary Companion", which was published in 2012, and has just completed her new companion piece to the works of Ian Rankin, "Ian Rankin - A Companion to the Mystery Fiction", both available from McFarland.

We've been trying to get hold of Erin for a while, so we're thrilled to have had a chance to chat to her about her books and her research process and some of the things that Rankin and McBain have in common. Hope you enjoy this. Find Erin's books in physical and digital format where you'd normally go (but support indie booksellers where possible!) and you can find Erin's own website here.

Fare thee well.

Ed McBain's Ice - Book 36, bonus: Perfumey Tang

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast bonus episode.

Join us as we dip nose-deep into our varying copies of McBain's 1983 epic, ICE as well as exploring the original book cover designs for the UK and US releases. Then we drift into our usual look at music, movies and TV and proffer some personal picks from the year. Apologies for minimal McBain content in these current Bonus episodes, but they're intended as a nice distraction for us, as much as you, during the rather bizarre period in which they're being recorded.

See you all soon for 'Lightning'. Fare thee well.

Ed McBain's Ice - Book 36 - Orbit of a UFO

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast.

So McBain took a year off in 1982, but in 1983 he returned to the precinct with Ice - a longer novel and one that is usually considered in the top tier of the series. Will we agree? It's a tale of murder, murder, murder, drugs and fraud (and murder). We catch up with the newly divorced Bert Kling and meet an old friend in Eileen Burke.

Find out what we think in this new episode which also takes in looming nuclear disaster, just to cheer you all up. Thanks to everyone who's contributed or commented. See you soon for the bonus episode and then onto book 37 - Lightning.

Fare thee well.

Ed McBain's Heat - Book 35, Bonus: No Context Midriff

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct podcast bonus episode.

1981. An alcoholic cop steps out of his car. He's reached the island. The place he could make a difference. He pulls his brown leather jacket close about him. Jim Bergerac has arrived.

In this episode we revel in our usual book cover review and huffing, the music, films and TV of 1981 and offer up our own personal choices of records and movies from the year for you. Stevo is called away on an urgent errand and a listener question inspires a interesting thought - can you create a jukebox to accompany the books, year by year?

We'll be back soon for book 36, ICE. Fare thee well.

Ed McBain's Heat - Book 35: Ten Popes

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast!

And we begin with an apology - no backup recording means Paul's mic is terribly distorted. Sorry, but you're going to have to suffer the Dalek delivery in this episode.

We're back in 1981 and what we posit is the start of a new 'season' of 87th Precinct adventures. It's hot. There's a corpse. There's betrayal. There's lust for revenge. There's a drugs bust. Everything is happening in this fascinating tale of trust destroyed in so many ways. We hope you enjoying our study of the many 'easter eggs' McBain has slipped into the book. Keep your ears open for a guest appearance from one of Stevo's cats and an old friend...

See you soon for the bonus episode and then we'll be back with ICE! Fare Thee Well.

Ed McBain's Ghosts: Book 34, Bonus: Maritime Calamities

Hark! It's a remote-recorded 87th Precinct Bonus Episode.

Are you ready for the world's first ever round of remote-recorded book-huffing? Will Morgan's schnozz rise to the challenge? Will Paul manage to get through his intro without saying the word 'Ghoosts'? Will Stevo ever remember the name of that Roxy Music album? All these questions - and more - are answered in our bonus episode to our podcast about the book GHOSTS - McBain's exercise in spooky tale-telling from 1980.

During the current situation (pandemic lockdown, future listeners) these bonus episodes are likely to be a bit of a looser affair, although we promise to up the McBain content as much as possible! Remember, we love to answer queries and questions, so send them along and don't forget to visit www.instagram.com/hark87podcast to see the book covers we're discussing.

See you soon for HEAT. Fare thee well.