Bread

87th Precinct #29

by Ed McBain

The dog days of August are making the 87th Precinct feel like the inside of an oven. But things can always get hotter. With nearly half the squadroom on vacation, Detectives Carella and Hawes look into what appears to be an ordinary warehouse fire—but Carella and Hawes rarely see anything ordinary, and this is no different. The trail from the warehouse leads uptown to the murders of a junkie and a suspected prostitute. They soon discover a shady ghetto redevelopment deal may have gruesome ties that run deep into the city’s underbelly.

Full of fascinating characters and dialogue that tears up the pages, Bread follows a bloody money trail through the city’s back alleys and dark corners. This installment of the 87th Precinct series is bestselling author Ed McBain at his grittiest.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Procedural, Detective, Thriller, Mystery Thriller

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

"Ed McBain" is one of the pen names of American author and screenwriter Salvatore Albert Lombino (1926-2005), who legally adopted the name Evan Hunter in 1952.

While successful and well known as Evan Hunter, he was even better known as Ed McBain, a name he used for most of his crime fiction, beginning in 1956.

He also used the pen names John Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, Dean Hudson, Evan Hunter, and Richard Marsten.

Reviews

[James Thane · Rating 4 out of 5]

On a hot August afternoon, a man comes into the 87th Precinct demanding fast action on the investigation into a fire that destroyed his warehouse along with $500,000 worth of small carved wooden animals that were housed there. He insists that he has to get the insurance claim settled immediately so that he can afford to pay for the next shipment of animals that is already on the way from Germany.

About half of the precinct's detectives are on vacation, given that these are the dog days of summer, but Steve Carella, Cotton Hawes and the other detectives who are on duty promise to do what they can. The investigation turns out to be more complicated than your average arson case, though, especially when people start turning up dead. In addition to arsonists and killers, there are hookers and urban redevelopers running loose in the city and Carella and company have to get all these things sorted out before they can appease the guy who wants his insurance claim settled.

All in all, this is one of the more intriguing entries in this long-running series and this book is critical to the series because it introduces the character of Fat Ollie Weeks who will appear prominently in several books from here on out. Weeks is a miserable pig of a human being who does an awful impression of W. C. Fields, but he has great skills as a detective and so the other detectives of the 87th and the reader as well, will just have to grin and bear it. Another fun read from one of the masters.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the guys of the 87. Fat Ollie Weeks makes for a fine example of a bigot who happens to get results as a detective. Steve Carella still shines as a counterpoint to all that Fat Ollie represents.
All if that notwithstanding, I just didn't find this story as engaging as others in this series. It was a fine and complex plot-- but somehow I never really could connect with it like I have in previous episodes.
Ah well, still well written police procedural with great dialogue.

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carella and Hawes cover an arson case for Parker while he is on vacation and it expands into other linked cases with two murders involved. No sub-plots in this one, just one major investigation over a few days, involving Big Ollie from the 83rd, whose bigoted and racist language was shocking to his colleagues forty years ago but is more appalling by today's standards

[Daniel Sevitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a convoluted plot for the fellas of the 87th precinct to deal with. Not because the criminals are smarter than usual, but just because there are a lot of moving parts. if I'm not mistaken, this is the first appearance of Fat Ollie and he's deliciously awful. He adds a nice element of questionable morality in a squad that is sometimes a little unnaturally right on. A solid entry.

[Chad Malkamaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better cases solved by the 87th, prostitution rings, international drug smuggling, and arson add up to a fine study.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I read an 87th Precinct novel, and while I want to say I read two books in the series already, I can't remember which ones they were! (predated Goodreads). But given there are over 50 books (and given the pace at which I read), what are the chances I reread one that I already read? But the good news is I DO want to read another 87th Precinct book after this, or at least another book by Ed McBain.

I grabbed this one because I wanted something short and an easy read. This was a like a blast form the past given when it was written. Reminded me of an old 70's movie or TV show. I enjoyed the snappy dialogue and McBain had no issues calling attention to some cliches like the housewife wanting to bed any cop she meets. I especially liked how it approached the last confrontation in the police office as if the participants were playing a poker game and the author was a commentator. It was a quick read and just what I needed.

[Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best thing about McBain's police procedurals are the interrogations, both the ones in the squad rooms with one, two, or more detectives questioning suspects, and also the ones in the world at large with one detective questioning a suspect or suspects. The information about fingerprinting and so on are interesting and usually feature something new to me. But the interrogations are quick and clever and tough, and realistically show how a suspect can be tricked or pushed into admitting information they had intended to hide.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Little Bit of Everything

I'm slowly getting through this series. This book started off slowly with a fire. So I'm starting my guessing game when all help breaks loose. There's arson, prostitution, a bad beat down, drugs, and of course, murder. Jeez, so much to take in. Oh, I almost forgot the lies and double-crossing. In the end, I kinda figured it out. Then again, I read all his books.

[Steve Gozdecki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite probably the first of the *great* 87th Precinct novels. Tons of brilliant social commentary, especially on rhetoric v. reality around urban blight, along with the introduction of Fat Ollie Weeks. "Ah yes, my little chickadee...."

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roger Grimm’s business is burned to the ground. Then his house. Carella and Hawes are on it. And Fat Ollie shows up on page 70! (I love Fat Ollie - his policework, not his racism)
So arson, heroin, murder, and a big ol' case to figure out. For me, this book was just okay - a bit too confusing for me in the details of it all. But the overall story was entertaining, and I'm excited to move on to #30 in the series!

[Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first McBain 87th Precinct novel. This series was highly recommended so I’ll be trying many more. This story was OK, well thought out with a large cast of characters. A few too many names to keep up with but since the detectives keep returning I’ll eventually ease into the series. This one had quite a few criminals as well. I’m sure this was a more cutting-edge police procedural when it first came out in 1987. Now it’s like a well used TV episode.
I like the bits of humor sprinkled throughout.

Still curious about the “Bread” book title. I remember back in the swinging 60s/70s slang for money was bread but it’s never brought up in this story.

[Colin Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best of the 28 previous books it is nevertheless a good read. Carella and Hawes are inveigled into investigating Roger Grimm's warehouse blase when Andy Parker goes on leave without leaving any notes. Inevitably this leads to murder, drugs, prostitution and general greed and avarice all in one short volume.

... and so onto book 30.

[AndrewP · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better ones in the series so far. Only one case to cover but it's much more complex than anything that has gone before. The 87th Precinct squad have to work with a detective from another precinct to put all the pieces together.

[Bruce Humbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this series - great characters and storytelling

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

These just keep getting grittier and the cases get a little more complex and involved as the series progresses. McBain introduces some new characters and adds to the detective squad every so often to create some new energy in the series. I know I've said this before, but the reflection of the times these were written in is part of what I find so intriguing in reading them now. It seems to me that the Miranda rights must have been a really big deal when they were instituted as it is something he has brought up in almost every book so far!

[Brian Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another crisply delivered police procedural and snapshot of 1970s Not Quite New York. 1970's McBain was not short on social commentary, and this is the first appearance I remember of the odious Fat Ollie Weeks, who makes a great foil for the more progressive detectives in the 87.

Unusual in that the story doesn't start with murder, the tale starts with arson and runs the gamut of human sins, interspersed with classic moments of McBain, including a hysterical discussion of how ballistics testing works.

Well worth the read.

[Skip · Rating 3 out of 5]

A warehouse fire consuming insured imported goods gets this novel off to a fast start, but Parker goes on vacation, leaving Carella, Hawes and others to deal with his open case. As the investigation progresses, key people start getting killed or badly beaten. McBain introduces "Fat Ollie" Weeks from the 83rd Precinct, who has many of Parker's flaws, but is a much better cop, and helps break the case.

[Craig "NEEDS MORE DAMN TIME TO READ !!!!" · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good interrelated crimes that all add up eventually, as usual, but was just a bit lacklustre. Bring back the Deaf Man!!

[Helen (Helena/Nell) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've given this one the lowest star rating out of the series so far. Ideally I'd have given it a 2.5 but we're not allowed, and usually I give the ones that don't quite work for me a 3, but this didn't work a lot, in that I never did quite connect with who did what because about three-quarters of the way through I ceased to care. Most reviewers comment that this was a very complicated plot. So it was. I've nothing against complicated plots, and McBain really likes them. But they only work for me if the character interest carries me through. Here none of the bad guys were interesting enough (to me) for emotional investment. I didn't give two hoots about any of the people who were killed. Or even one hoot about the girl who was beaten up. So the denouement fell flat.

For me, the main interest (and the only character interest) lies in the three detectives working on the case and the tension between them. A new character is introduced. I was glad Ollie Weeks arrived (Fat Ollie) because I was beginning to worry that McBain might kill off Cotton Hawes to create emotional interest, and it was a relief to me that he didn't even get battered. What he did get was an opportunity to put up with Oliver Weeks, a detective from another precinct who is as annoying as Andy Parker (on holiday while the action takes place) but unlike Parker, he's a good detective:

"He [Oliver Weeks] was affectionately called Big Ollie by his colleagues on the 83. (He was not so affectionately called Fat Ollie by various despicable types he had busted over the years.) Big/Fat Ollie was both fat and big. He also sweated a lot. And he smelled. Hawes considered him a pig."

So we've got an interesting situation. It's mid-summer. It's hot, so sweaty Fat Ollie is sweating even more than usual. Hawes (who we have come to like a lot) can't abide Weeks. Carella is more tolerant (of absolutely everybody) but can't abide Week's racism and bigotry. In fact, he and Weeks fell out five years ago and things have been chilly between them ever since. What did they fall out about?

"Carella had called Ollie on his peculiar idiosyncrasy of referring to an eighty-six-year-old Puerto Rican matriarch, grandmother to twelve children, and proud parent of a son who was running for the City Council, as 'that decrepit spic twat'. Ollie had taken offense at Carella's having taken offense...."

But in this novel, Weeks does a whole lot of useful detecting. In fact, without Weeks they wouldn't have cracked the case at all because it was too damn complicated. "Fat Ollie Weeks was a terrible person, but in many respects a good cop. Throwing away his investigative instincts and his dogged ferreting-out of facts would be tantamount to throwing away the baby with the bathwater. And yes, working with him rankled. So what was one to do? In all good conscience, what was one to do?"

It's a real life problem. One without a solution. How do you work with a guy who smells? Carella, Hawes and Weeks go to call on a villain at five o'clock in the morning. I can't remember precisely what happened, but I can remember the bit about the smell:

"Even at this early hour of the morning, Ollie was no rose garden, but then again, he had never promised anybody he was. Cotton Hawes had a very sensitive nose. He hated firing his pistol senselessly because the stench of cordite almost always made him slightly nauseous. During his naval career this had been a severe handicap, since somebody or other always seemed to be firing a gun at somebody else or other. Ollie did not smell of cordite. It was difficult to place his smell."

Now that is the kind of thing McBain handles well. The smelliness plus the bigotry could end up in a monumental row.

But no, it ends up with Fat Ollie finding his two fellow cops good mates. They've solved the crime together, haven't they? In the associated euphoria, he decides the joint criticism of his bigotry from Carella and Hawes is hugely funny. So much so that he says:

"You know what I'm gonna do? [ ... ] I'm gonna put in for a transfer to the 87th. I really do like you guys."

Watch this space.

[Nigel Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bread is a belter of a book. It's great on a couple of fronts. First of all, the case being investigated is wide and complex. There are a lot of bodies and there's plenty of detection. Secondly, the chemistry of the detectives is effervescent, what with the return of Cotton Hawes and the need for he and Carella to work alongside Ollie Weeks from the 83rd.

It's August and it's hot. Many of the 87th are on vacation, which is why Roger Grimm is forced to come in to the station when the detective handling the case (Andy Parker) of his torched warehouse leaves the investigation to take his break.

Grimm needs a speedy resolution to the arson case in order to convince the insurance companies to pay up so that he can buy his next shipment of small wooden animals and make a killing when he sells them on. Carella's sympathetic to Grimm's cause, after all there would be no logic to Grimm burning his own stock given the way the circumstances are explained.

The only problem is, to proceed with the case, Carella needs to go to speak to Parker. Parker's no friend of Carella at the best of times. Given that he's at home in his shorts and vest with a beer in his hand, he's less inclined to talk about police work than ever. He's the bad apple in the force- violent, opinionated, lazy and racist, to name but a few of his traits. He talks a good game on this one, but when Carella follows up, it's clear that Parker has given his usual below-par minimum.

After Grimm's home is also torched, Carella and Hawes dig deep. In doing so, they set off a chain reaction that make the threads of the case difficult to hold. One of the them is the murder of a suspect in the case, a junkie who wears fine suits and drives a Cadillac, which happens to be in the territory of the 83rd.

Enter Ollie Weeks (aka Big Ollie, aka Fat Ollie), a huge man with personal hygiene issues and a streak of racism running through him that's as wide as he is broad. He digs into a new element of the case, a financial institution looking to clean up Diamondback's slums. He also digs deep into the patience of liberal-minded Cotton Hawes who finds the new working set-up intolerable. It's only Carella who manages to keep Hawes on the case, explaining that while Weeks might be a pig, he also happens to be a tenacious detective with a range of skills that will be useful during this investigation.

The three work together, bringing those threads together to form a curious tapestry.

There's little to be said without giving away spoilers, but suffice to say the interview room set pieces are top drawer and the psychological angles employed by the detectives are spot on.

A great case, then, and fabulous entertainment.

The question is, will we see Ollie Weeks again? Part of me, like Carella and Hawes, hopes he'll disappear into the mist. The other part thinks he's a great asset to the books and the needles he pokes his colleagues with add a nice dose of spice to the series.

[Elmer Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah McBain, your writing continues to see-saw my responses. Bread returns the emotions to the high point. After Hail to the Chief (low point), Bread careens recklessly back to the top through a realistic storyline having the detectives working through vacation change overs and potentially missing clues within the primary case.

Nice juxtaposition between losing Andy Parker to his vacation (who caught the squeal), only to bring in Fat Ollie Weeks from the 83rd (just as bad socially, but a better all-around detective) to help solve the mystery, of which there is actually one presented.

Normally the criminal activity is unrelated within McBain stories, which causes distraction to the reader (due to the brevity of the writing). The escalation of crimes in Bread helps enhance the plot line tremendously, giving the story more room to flesh out, letting the mystery breathe.

This falls under another potentially improbable case, in the vein of Jigsaw -Book #24- (without giving anything away here). However, McBain builds in the layers and lets the readers do some sleuthing while the criminals play.

Highly recommend

Thanks for reading.

[Jiří Pavlovský · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pokud v pár minulých knihách McBain experimentoval, tak tohle je konzervativní kriminálka jako noha. Na počátku je jen obyčejný požár skladu s dřevěnými hračkami, ale rychle se začnou objevovat první mrtvoly. Policisté se pouští do světa, kterému tak úplně nerozumí, ve které se točí peníze, ale není tak úplně jasné, z čeho pochází. Z rekonstrukce domů ve špatné čtvrti? Z obchodu s hračkami? Prostituce, erotických fotek nebo něčeho jiného? Ono je to celkem jedno, prachy jsou prachy.
Mimochodem, Prachy jsou prvním románem, kde má větší roli tlustý rasistický policista Ollie Weeks, který se v posledních dílech vypracoval v podstatě na hlavního hrdinu celé série.
Plus je celá kniha psaná v hodně hravém stylu, zvláště když autor začne popisovat situaci z pohledu nezaujatého svědka. Popis škrábanců, které způsobuje na kulce střelná zbraň je už skoro Pratchettovský… a i finále, kdy je výslech podezřelých pojednaný jako pokerová partie je super a zachraňuje i skutečnost, že řešení je hodně akademické.

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hot town, summer in the city - Isola, that is - home of the 87th Precinct, and most of my favorite detectives. Arson is the name of the game, and now the bodies are starting to pile up. Some of the bulls must team with the effective but odious Ollie Weeks, a detective from a neighboring precinct, and it was fun watching them deal with an unpleasant coworker.

This one didn't fascinate me much, and I missed the usual humorous subplot/s, hence the three-star rating. As always, it was a fun visit, though I hope the next book is set in the fall. Reading about men sweating a lot can get a wee bit tiresome.

[Libby · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my least favorite of all the ED McBain books about the 87th, and I have read or listened to about 10. This one wasn’t very interesting and I didn’t care about any of the characters stories. That doesn’t mean that I won’t keep reading. The author has created a core group of excellent characters, Meyer, Carella, Kline, Howse. Elaine. Some of this core group are part of this particular book, but not in a dramatic way.

[James H. Jaqua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not even sliced...

Split several ways, however, and the freshness was a bit suspect. One of those books that don't seem to have a good place to stop reading for a while, so you just keep reading and seldom notice the time. Miscreants abound, and the 87th does its job, slowly at times, but surely and steadily the culprits are corralled and confined. Another jewel from McBain.

[Jez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't remember this one at all from my first read. The plot is fairly complex and it's got all the great things about McBain - the dialogue, the minor characters, the dark humour and the empathy for the downtrodden.
Plus, it introduces the bigoted but complicated Ollie Weeks, one of his greatest characters, so it's worth reading for that alone.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Closer to a 3.5, but overall a solid read. Carella and Hawes are investigating an arson that keeps escalating with more arson and then murders. They have to figure out what is going on and what is so important about tiny little wooded animals.

To me this is a very uneven series. This one is in the top half but closer to the middle for me so far in the series. Recommended.

[Daniel Nicgorski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Required reading for the cop, big city crime genre.

The 87th Precinct series is set in the fictional city of Isola during the 1950's, 60's, and 70's. The stories are not politically correct and not for the faint hearted. They are fiction but written with enough grit and honesty to propel the reader into a world not so distant past and maybe not in the past at all.

[MarcNYC · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot is interesting, however there are several threads that seem only tangentially related (the gang, perhaps a continuation of a book that precedes this one) or confusing. Writing is good, dialogues are interesting, especially the interrogations. The most intriguing aspect of this novel is the introduction of detective Ollie Weeks.

[Allison Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

This book, like all of McBains, keeps you interested all the way thru..my goal is to read all of the 87th precinct books. I would give it four and a half stars.