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87th Precinct #4
The Con Man
A con man is plying his trade on the streets of Isola: conning a domestic for pocket change, businessmen for thousands, and even ladies in exchange for a little bit of love. You can see the world, meet a lot of nice people, imbibe some unique drinks, and make a ton money…all by conning them for their cash.
The question is: How far is he willing to go?
When a young woman's body washes up in the Harb River, the answer to that question becomes tragically clear. Now Detective Steve Carella races against time to find him before another con turns deadly. The only clue he has to go on is the mysterious tattoo on the young woman’s hand—but it’s enough. Carella takes to the streets, searching its darkest corners for a man who cons his victims out of their money…and their lives.
The question is: How far is he willing to go?
When a young woman's body washes up in the Harb River, the answer to that question becomes tragically clear. Now Detective Steve Carella races against time to find him before another con turns deadly. The only clue he has to go on is the mysterious tattoo on the young woman’s hand—but it’s enough. Carella takes to the streets, searching its darkest corners for a man who cons his victims out of their money…and their lives.
201 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1957
312 people are currently reading
880 people want to read
About the author
Ed McBain
710 books668 followers"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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 222 reviews
January 3, 2013
This is the fourth book in Ed McBain's famed 87th Precinct series and the one in which, it seems to me, he really finds his groove. By now, the major characters have all been introduced and we are comfortable with their back stories and personalities. Despite McBain's original intentions, Steve Carella has emerged as the first among equals in the lineup, and the series now has a "settled" feel to it.
As the story opens, a con man is working the streets of Isola, McBain's fictional city where the series takes place. Citizens are being cheated out of sums large and small and then, in a very unsettling turn, a woman's body floats to the surface of the Harb River. She's been in the river for about four months, making an identification very difficult. About the body's only distinguishing feature at this point is a small tattoo, drawn into the space between the victim's thumb and first finger.
With no real leads to follow, the detectives of the 87th Precinct are virtually stymied in attempting to find the killer. Then another woman's body is discovered in the river and she has a variation of the same tattoo between her thumb and first finger. Steve Carella now has the first hint of a clue and as he pursues a very clever killer he suddenly also has a very personal stake in stopping the Con Man before he claims his next victim.
This is a quick, fun read that will whet the appetite of any McBain fan for the books that follow.
As the story opens, a con man is working the streets of Isola, McBain's fictional city where the series takes place. Citizens are being cheated out of sums large and small and then, in a very unsettling turn, a woman's body floats to the surface of the Harb River. She's been in the river for about four months, making an identification very difficult. About the body's only distinguishing feature at this point is a small tattoo, drawn into the space between the victim's thumb and first finger.
With no real leads to follow, the detectives of the 87th Precinct are virtually stymied in attempting to find the killer. Then another woman's body is discovered in the river and she has a variation of the same tattoo between her thumb and first finger. Steve Carella now has the first hint of a clue and as he pursues a very clever killer he suddenly also has a very personal stake in stopping the Con Man before he claims his next victim.
This is a quick, fun read that will whet the appetite of any McBain fan for the books that follow.
May 16, 2025
Dang, Ed Mcbain — I was on the edge for the entire third act and now consider this particular 87th precinct novel a suspense masterclass. First one that extra impressed me in this series so far.
A cut above.
A cut above.
August 19, 2013
He snapped his fingers for the waiter, and while they waited for him to come to their table, she leaned over and whispered the three most expensive words in the English language.
"I love you."
And he looked at her with tender guile and answered with the three cheapest words in the English language.
"I love you."
Anyone can be a con man.
Some do it for cash.
You can remain a gentleman, pursue a life of romantic criminal adventure, see the world, meet a lot of nice people and drink a lot of cool drinks, and still make a lot of money - all by fooling people.
Others are a little more subtle.
The lobby bustled with activity. A beer company was holding eliminations for its yearly glamour girl contest, and models swarmed over the thick rugs, accompanied by press agents and photographers. All of the models looked the same. The hair-coloring varied, but otherwise they all looked the same. They were, in essence, symbols created by con men. They were too, in essence, con men themselves.
And then there are the romance writers who con lonely women into believing romantic fantasies, making them vulnerable to being conned by predators...
There is a con man on the loose, bilking the citizens, using cons both simple and elaborate. The men of the 87th Precinct are on the case, while at the same time, trying to catch a killer who's been dumping dead women into the river.
The combination of some classic con games and a genuinely thrilling ending made this book a very enjoyable entry in the series.
"I love you."
And he looked at her with tender guile and answered with the three cheapest words in the English language.
"I love you."
Anyone can be a con man.
Some do it for cash.
You can remain a gentleman, pursue a life of romantic criminal adventure, see the world, meet a lot of nice people and drink a lot of cool drinks, and still make a lot of money - all by fooling people.
Others are a little more subtle.
The lobby bustled with activity. A beer company was holding eliminations for its yearly glamour girl contest, and models swarmed over the thick rugs, accompanied by press agents and photographers. All of the models looked the same. The hair-coloring varied, but otherwise they all looked the same. They were, in essence, symbols created by con men. They were too, in essence, con men themselves.
And then there are the romance writers who con lonely women into believing romantic fantasies, making them vulnerable to being conned by predators...
There is a con man on the loose, bilking the citizens, using cons both simple and elaborate. The men of the 87th Precinct are on the case, while at the same time, trying to catch a killer who's been dumping dead women into the river.
The combination of some classic con games and a genuinely thrilling ending made this book a very enjoyable entry in the series.
December 20, 2018
A very good early (1957) 87th precinct novel featuring Carella and his beautiful wife, Teddy. Brown hunts down a con man low enough to steal $5.00 from a young girl while Carella is after a killer. Good procedurals, good action, good book. Recommended.
May 14, 2021
The Con Man by Ed McBain is the 4th book in his 87th Precinct cop series. It's a simple cop story relatively but at the same time for all of its simplicity, also very rich.
Two crimes are being investigated by the detectives of the 87th Precinct. Arthur Brown, Det 2nd Grade, is looking into a pair of con men who are ripping off people. Det Steve Carella is investigating the discovery of a 'floater', the body of a woman found in the river, apparently murdered.
I enjoy the process of the various investigations, the methodical nature and introduction to the other departments, Missing Persons bureau, the daily Line-up where detectives from the various divisions come together to review the line-up of people arrested. I enjoyed that section very much.
I also enjoyed the meeting of the various detectives' spouses and girl friends as they also added to the story, especially Carella wife, Teddy, deaf and mute but still a force to be reckoned with. The story is so well paced and in the one case McBain ramps up the tension until the final outcome. The story is so fascinating and it draws you in immediately. I liked the detectives, their family and the tattoo artist, Mr. Chen. Just a great, enjoyable crime story and a most satisfying ending (4.5 stars)
Two crimes are being investigated by the detectives of the 87th Precinct. Arthur Brown, Det 2nd Grade, is looking into a pair of con men who are ripping off people. Det Steve Carella is investigating the discovery of a 'floater', the body of a woman found in the river, apparently murdered.
I enjoy the process of the various investigations, the methodical nature and introduction to the other departments, Missing Persons bureau, the daily Line-up where detectives from the various divisions come together to review the line-up of people arrested. I enjoyed that section very much.
I also enjoyed the meeting of the various detectives' spouses and girl friends as they also added to the story, especially Carella wife, Teddy, deaf and mute but still a force to be reckoned with. The story is so well paced and in the one case McBain ramps up the tension until the final outcome. The story is so fascinating and it draws you in immediately. I liked the detectives, their family and the tattoo artist, Mr. Chen. Just a great, enjoyable crime story and a most satisfying ending (4.5 stars)
July 7, 2025
Another fun installment in the 87th Precinct series with once again Carrela carrying the lead. As usual, McBain keeps a couple of plot threads going here, one (the case Carrela is on) concerns some 'floaters' that keep turning up on the river banks; all are women. The second, headed up by Brown, looks into some confidence men; the first reported case is of a young women being swindled out of 5 bucks, the next a Boston business man getting tagged for a few hundred...
Also as usual in this series, the plot takes second place to the interpersonal dialogue and McBain's reflections on life in the big city. He really plays with cons here-- from advertising, used car salesmen, 'I love you' (e.g., I want to get in your pants), politicians promises, etc. It seems life is all one big con! These books are like candy but also short and sweet-- you can read them in just a few hours. Interestingly enough, my copy has an inside stamp from "Army Libraries-- the community recreation division, Panama branch." Never knew the army kept libraries on its bases. 3.5 light stars, rounding up!
Also as usual in this series, the plot takes second place to the interpersonal dialogue and McBain's reflections on life in the big city. He really plays with cons here-- from advertising, used car salesmen, 'I love you' (e.g., I want to get in your pants), politicians promises, etc. It seems life is all one big con! These books are like candy but also short and sweet-- you can read them in just a few hours. Interestingly enough, my copy has an inside stamp from "Army Libraries-- the community recreation division, Panama branch." Never knew the army kept libraries on its bases. 3.5 light stars, rounding up!
March 26, 2025
This installment in the 87th Precinct series was my favorite so far. It has two stories one being a con man taking unspecting victims money in alot of different ways and another involving women being found floating in a river. The murder story is by far the best and the lead up to the arrest is full of tension. I was basically yelling at the book it had me on the edge of my seat. This is such a fun series can't wait to read the next.
June 2, 2017
Several years ago Amazon put the 87th Precinct novels that have been released in kindle format on sale & I bought a ton of them. This is the second one I've read, and I primarily decided to delve into the backlist because I read a wikipedia article about Scandinavian Noir that suggested that one of the pioneering writers in that genre was influenced by McBain's 87th Precinct novels.
Stylistically, these are very different from modern police procedurals, with very stripped down language and character/narrative arcs that don't extend beyond a single book. I'm interested to read a few more to see how McBain's style changes over the years that he was writing his series. They are also a bit of a period piece, with limited access to forensic evidence, no computers to assist in identification/investigation, and detectives who are universally male, and on the hard-boiled side. It would feel like cliche, except that McBain is convincing.
Stylistically, these are very different from modern police procedurals, with very stripped down language and character/narrative arcs that don't extend beyond a single book. I'm interested to read a few more to see how McBain's style changes over the years that he was writing his series. They are also a bit of a period piece, with limited access to forensic evidence, no computers to assist in identification/investigation, and detectives who are universally male, and on the hard-boiled side. It would feel like cliche, except that McBain is convincing.
October 28, 2012
The year turns and another 87th Precinct book breezes through. It's April in Isola. The cruellest month? Cruel enough anyway as the con is well and truly on. McBain relishes in his chosen theme. The con and the conmen themselves get a thorough going over by McBain's philosophically edged examination. The detectives of the 87th are trying to reel in a couple of tricksters who are working their way through the confidence trick handbook, fleecing the rich and poor for a fortune or a dime. Arthur Brown and newly promoted Bert Kling are hitting the streets trying to luck out for a lead on the pair. But it's Steve Carella who discovers a far more sinister and deadly conman at work. The river deals him a woman, dead for some time, a tattoo of a heart encircling the word MAC almost hidden on the flesh of her hand and a mysteriously emptied bank account. As ever the characters are great and becoming more familiar by the book. With the investigations waiting for that one killer lead, McBain revels in dangling them in front of the wrong eyes at the wrong time. Some of it gets dangled by our eyes too through print outs of missing persons reports, Criminal identity cards and, somewhat indecipherably, dental records. Carella is recently back from his honeymoon with new wife Teddy who is deaf-mute. This one works up to a particularly suspenseful finale with Teddy aiding in the investigation.
March 19, 2021
This fourth book in the series firmly establishes Steve Carrella and his wife Teddy as primary characters as the 87th precinct deals with an influx of con artists, one of which is also a serial killer. McBain is a superb writer spinning dazzling descriptive prose while keeping the story taut and compelling. The killer is a fascinating character, both clever and repellant. I loved the striking third person narrative with multiple viewpoints that ratcheted up the suspense in a race against time as the serial killer readies the next murder, and a major character is endangered. A fine early entry in arguably the best police procedural series of all time.
July 26, 2013
I have read two other books in Ed McBain's acclaimed "87th Precinct" books. I was in a bit of a book slump, so I thought I would check out "The Con Man", the 4th in the series. I like this series because it is realistic, the characters are usually likable, they are fast reads, and you can read them out of order. I especially like the older ones so far because it shows me a glimpse of what the police system was like in an urban area in the 1950's. It's a fun little blast to the past.
In "The Con Man" police are hunting down the killer of women who are found poisoned and washed up from a local river. Both women have strange tattoos on their hands and seemed to have been plain looking women in life. Meanwhile, a series of con acts are taking money from citizens everywhere and the precinct is eager to stop it. Are the two crime acts linked?
Ok, so out of the three books I've read, this is my least favourite. I feel like the con artist scenes are too long and dragging, but the murder solving is quite interesting. Yes this book is outdated, but I love that quality sometimes. It is fun to see what people thought and said at the time.
What I do love is the character Teddy, wife of the officer Carella. She is a deaf and mute woman who helps her husband solve the crime. Her unique situation provides great entertainment and adds heightened suspense since she can't hear or even call for help. The last few scenes are fun and intense and I can't help but love her.
While this book is my least favourite of the three I've read due too the few long dull scenes, it is still not a bad book. I will without a doubt read more "87th Precinct" books in the future. If you are looking for lightning fast reads with a lot of suspense, then I recommend this series!
In "The Con Man" police are hunting down the killer of women who are found poisoned and washed up from a local river. Both women have strange tattoos on their hands and seemed to have been plain looking women in life. Meanwhile, a series of con acts are taking money from citizens everywhere and the precinct is eager to stop it. Are the two crime acts linked?
Ok, so out of the three books I've read, this is my least favourite. I feel like the con artist scenes are too long and dragging, but the murder solving is quite interesting. Yes this book is outdated, but I love that quality sometimes. It is fun to see what people thought and said at the time.
What I do love is the character Teddy, wife of the officer Carella. She is a deaf and mute woman who helps her husband solve the crime. Her unique situation provides great entertainment and adds heightened suspense since she can't hear or even call for help. The last few scenes are fun and intense and I can't help but love her.
While this book is my least favourite of the three I've read due too the few long dull scenes, it is still not a bad book. I will without a doubt read more "87th Precinct" books in the future. If you are looking for lightning fast reads with a lot of suspense, then I recommend this series!
November 19, 2014
The 4th book in the 87th Precinct crime/detective series and my favourite so far.
Didn't start off too well as it delved too deeply into details of procedure. I don't need to be told in great detail what the detective has to write in his report when a body is found. I'm also not that interested in knowing all the different methods of lifting fingerprints. If you can give me those details as part of the story then fine but paragraphs just listing them all is not the way to do it as it bores the reader. Show, don't tell.
After that, the story kicked in and sped along at pace. Series favourite Steve Carella was back after nearly get killed off in the last book, along with patrolman-turned-detective Bert Kling. Brown was introduced and they were brief appearances from a few others in the squad that have been seen before. I love that we get to see different detectives taking centre stage in each book. You really feel like you get to know them all and the dialogue between them is fantastic and somewhat hilarious in places. They all have their own personal issues along with the cases they're currently working.
McBains writing style can vary greatly but apart from my issue with procedure descriptions I really enjoyed it in this book.
Didn't start off too well as it delved too deeply into details of procedure. I don't need to be told in great detail what the detective has to write in his report when a body is found. I'm also not that interested in knowing all the different methods of lifting fingerprints. If you can give me those details as part of the story then fine but paragraphs just listing them all is not the way to do it as it bores the reader. Show, don't tell.
After that, the story kicked in and sped along at pace. Series favourite Steve Carella was back after nearly get killed off in the last book, along with patrolman-turned-detective Bert Kling. Brown was introduced and they were brief appearances from a few others in the squad that have been seen before. I love that we get to see different detectives taking centre stage in each book. You really feel like you get to know them all and the dialogue between them is fantastic and somewhat hilarious in places. They all have their own personal issues along with the cases they're currently working.
McBains writing style can vary greatly but apart from my issue with procedure descriptions I really enjoyed it in this book.
November 27, 2024
4-Star Review
I enjoyed The Con Man more than the earlier entries in the 87th Precinct series. By this fourth book, the characters are being fleshed out, and you can see the groundwork McBain is laying as they grow with each instalment. I particularly loved the Carellas—Teddy played a key role in the case, which added real tension and excitement to the resolution. Her dynamic with Steve is becoming a highlight for me. The pacing was generally fine, though a few parts dragged. A well-written, enjoyable quick read that’s perfect for switching off.
I enjoyed The Con Man more than the earlier entries in the 87th Precinct series. By this fourth book, the characters are being fleshed out, and you can see the groundwork McBain is laying as they grow with each instalment. I particularly loved the Carellas—Teddy played a key role in the case, which added real tension and excitement to the resolution. Her dynamic with Steve is becoming a highlight for me. The pacing was generally fine, though a few parts dragged. A well-written, enjoyable quick read that’s perfect for switching off.
June 11, 2023
Turns out I had already read The Con Man by Ed McBain (1957) so this was a second time around, not a problem, in fact I enjoyed the re-read. Having said that this 87th Precinct Mystery was pretty standard with two parallel stories. One, a pair of con-men ripping off citizens of Isola, and two, a mail order murder scheme is investigated. One observation, the longer I read the 87th novels the more & more I like the always friendly narrator who always takes you on a tour of Isola and then gently drops you into the story-line. Don't let the 3-Star rating throw you, The Con Man and all the 87th's are worthy of a read. Always entertaining....3 outta 5 Stars...
November 9, 2014
These early Ed McBain novels from the 1950s are now old enough to qualify almost as historical mysteries and the language and attitudes often seem staid, stilted, and outdated.
Did policemen really used to talk like that? I remember watching reruns of "Dragnet" years after the series first ran and I seem to recall that Sgt. Joe Friday and his partner did, in fact, employ some of this terminology and exhibit some of those attitudes, so, yeah, I guess maybe they really did talk like that.
In spite of the fact that the books feel dated, the writing is so crisp that it draws us in and holds our attention. We feel like time travelers visiting another planet and observing the interaction of the inhabitants there. The books never fail to spark our interest and this, the fourth in the 87th Precinct series, is the best one yet, I think. Each entry has been an improvement upon the last one, which bodes well for my future reading of the series.
This story begins with a con man cheating people out of their money, some small amounts and some more substantial. The cop assigned to this case takes that personally and pursues his quarry with a vengeance.
Meanwhile, a con man of another and much more sinister sort plies his trade through personal ads in magazines. His goal is to reach lonely women and, after bilking them out of whatever money they may have and convincing them to get a tattoo which he tells them will mark them as his, he poisons them with arsenic and dumps their bodies in the river.
But bodies dumped in the river, even when they are weighted down, don't always stay there. And so, the Isola police and Precinct 87 are the unfortunate recipients of a "floater," a badly decomposed body that comes to the surface after being in the water for at least three months. Detective Steve Carella and his partner Bert Kling are assigned to the case and start trying to establish the identity of the dead woman, whose only clothing consisted of a bra and who had no identification, and to work out how she came to be in the water.
Before they can solve the first murder, yet another "floater" turns up. The cause of death turns out to be the same - arsenic poisoning - and the woman has a similar tattoo. It looks as though Isola may have a serial killer on its hands.
The tattoos turn out to be the definitive clue which helps to break the case, along with the help of a conscientious citizen tattoo artist named Charlie Chen.
The Con Man lets us get to know Steve Carella a little better. We also see his wife, Teddy, playing an important role in finally tracking down this con man/murderer. Apparently, they will continue to be at the center of future mysteries in the series.
By this time, McBain had really perfected his technique of writing a scintillating beginning to his tales, one that hooks you from the first sentence and keeps you turning pages. It's easy to see why other writers of mysteries, particularly of police procedurals, acknowledge him as the master.
Did policemen really used to talk like that? I remember watching reruns of "Dragnet" years after the series first ran and I seem to recall that Sgt. Joe Friday and his partner did, in fact, employ some of this terminology and exhibit some of those attitudes, so, yeah, I guess maybe they really did talk like that.
In spite of the fact that the books feel dated, the writing is so crisp that it draws us in and holds our attention. We feel like time travelers visiting another planet and observing the interaction of the inhabitants there. The books never fail to spark our interest and this, the fourth in the 87th Precinct series, is the best one yet, I think. Each entry has been an improvement upon the last one, which bodes well for my future reading of the series.
This story begins with a con man cheating people out of their money, some small amounts and some more substantial. The cop assigned to this case takes that personally and pursues his quarry with a vengeance.
Meanwhile, a con man of another and much more sinister sort plies his trade through personal ads in magazines. His goal is to reach lonely women and, after bilking them out of whatever money they may have and convincing them to get a tattoo which he tells them will mark them as his, he poisons them with arsenic and dumps their bodies in the river.
But bodies dumped in the river, even when they are weighted down, don't always stay there. And so, the Isola police and Precinct 87 are the unfortunate recipients of a "floater," a badly decomposed body that comes to the surface after being in the water for at least three months. Detective Steve Carella and his partner Bert Kling are assigned to the case and start trying to establish the identity of the dead woman, whose only clothing consisted of a bra and who had no identification, and to work out how she came to be in the water.
Before they can solve the first murder, yet another "floater" turns up. The cause of death turns out to be the same - arsenic poisoning - and the woman has a similar tattoo. It looks as though Isola may have a serial killer on its hands.
The tattoos turn out to be the definitive clue which helps to break the case, along with the help of a conscientious citizen tattoo artist named Charlie Chen.
The Con Man lets us get to know Steve Carella a little better. We also see his wife, Teddy, playing an important role in finally tracking down this con man/murderer. Apparently, they will continue to be at the center of future mysteries in the series.
By this time, McBain had really perfected his technique of writing a scintillating beginning to his tales, one that hooks you from the first sentence and keeps you turning pages. It's easy to see why other writers of mysteries, particularly of police procedurals, acknowledge him as the master.
March 18, 2016
I've been trying to read these books in order. Although the plot of each is stand alone, the development of the characters defiantly builds from book to book. Reading them out of sequence would probably result in the odd spoiler here and there.
In this book there are a couple of con men loose in the city. These form two separate cases with a little bit of overlap.
Even though this was written in the 50's, it's still a decent crime story with lots of nostalgic value.
I don't have book #5 so will take a break from this series until I have the next 2 or 3.
In this book there are a couple of con men loose in the city. These form two separate cases with a little bit of overlap.
Even though this was written in the 50's, it's still a decent crime story with lots of nostalgic value.
I don't have book #5 so will take a break from this series until I have the next 2 or 3.
March 27, 2015
What's new? The always good Ed McBain writes a good book. What can you say that hasn't been said before. I can't think of anything, but it does create a problem for me. He wrote 55 books in this series, I've only read 4 and I'm 65 and I never read back to back books in the same series. So I have to go now cause I got some serious catching up to do.
Damn bucket list items, whatever happened to the concept of a leisurely retirement?
Damn bucket list items, whatever happened to the concept of a leisurely retirement?
December 3, 2017
This 4th entry in the 87th Precinct series again features Steve Carella & this time his deaf-mute wife Teddy plays a big part. While con men, big & small, are featured, this book is really a murder mystery at heart.
October 16, 2018
Another interesting cop read, with Carella and co.
January 20, 2012
this will be the....3rd? 4th? mcbain story i've read....kindle....apparently it is the 5th....and all of them w/i the last year or two.
starts out:
everybody has a right to earn a living.
that's the american way. you get out there and sweat, and you make a buck. and you invest that buck in lemons and sugar. the water and ice, you get free. you've got yourself a little lemonade stand by the side of the road, and pretty soon, you're pulling in five bucks a week.
hoorah!
and then the gov't comes and messes w/your business plan (as they did w/the little girl in...where was it? st. louis? kansas city?...sent in the epa swat team and waddled her)
onward and upward.
update at the 32% mark:
mcbain does some interesting things w/this one, not in any order:
1. he includes a missing person report...an actual form, looks like,
two pages worth
2. there is a chapter or two, or two partial chapters' worth of the worldly view of a con man...sort-of...using the second-person "you"...almost like an advice column, cynical advice--it is from a con man
2a. or...something....this one lengthier section includes a pitch from a soap salesman, another introducing "the most compelling novel since gone w/the wind called, all in caps: the tattered piccolo. heh!
3. there is a 7-numbered list by sam grossman, a police lieutenant who is also a skilled lab tech...his lab, divided into 7-sections.
4. there is a lengthy letter from a girl who is/turns out to be a missing person, likely victim of murder
5. there is a "man seeking woman" add at the end of one section, and in the next section, a woman is answering it...her letter is included...both letters are like the story-in-a-story
6. there's also some sort of...report on a bad guy, two page, front/back...
7. as well as several hearts drawn out, printed out that way...i wonder how common that was in the late-50s when this was 1st published? vonnegut did that a lot in a few of his, others, stephen king,
the narrative does not follow one cop, one con man, one victim, though it has so far followed many cops, many victims of either a con, or more.
there's a nice "afterword" in which mcbain includes a mistake from a previous version of the story, scene where teddy (the wife of one of the cops) hears things....she's a "deaf-mute" in an earlier incarnation, though no longer referred to as such...mcbain says in the afterword that a reader said the term is derogatory...etc.
there's some nice scenes here...charlie chen, the tattoo artist is a hoot. chinese. although who knows...there's probably some that see some sort of defamation in his character, too. wonder when animal-rapists will march on washington?
good read...narrative follows several detectives as they try to solve cases...intense chase scene at the end there, teddy, deaf and mute, cop-wife....following...etc etc...
starts out:
everybody has a right to earn a living.
that's the american way. you get out there and sweat, and you make a buck. and you invest that buck in lemons and sugar. the water and ice, you get free. you've got yourself a little lemonade stand by the side of the road, and pretty soon, you're pulling in five bucks a week.
hoorah!
and then the gov't comes and messes w/your business plan (as they did w/the little girl in...where was it? st. louis? kansas city?...sent in the epa swat team and waddled her)
onward and upward.
update at the 32% mark:
mcbain does some interesting things w/this one, not in any order:
1. he includes a missing person report...an actual form, looks like,
two pages worth
2. there is a chapter or two, or two partial chapters' worth of the worldly view of a con man...sort-of...using the second-person "you"...almost like an advice column, cynical advice--it is from a con man
2a. or...something....this one lengthier section includes a pitch from a soap salesman, another introducing "the most compelling novel since gone w/the wind called, all in caps: the tattered piccolo. heh!
3. there is a 7-numbered list by sam grossman, a police lieutenant who is also a skilled lab tech...his lab, divided into 7-sections.
4. there is a lengthy letter from a girl who is/turns out to be a missing person, likely victim of murder
5. there is a "man seeking woman" add at the end of one section, and in the next section, a woman is answering it...her letter is included...both letters are like the story-in-a-story
6. there's also some sort of...report on a bad guy, two page, front/back...
7. as well as several hearts drawn out, printed out that way...i wonder how common that was in the late-50s when this was 1st published? vonnegut did that a lot in a few of his, others, stephen king,
the narrative does not follow one cop, one con man, one victim, though it has so far followed many cops, many victims of either a con, or more.
there's a nice "afterword" in which mcbain includes a mistake from a previous version of the story, scene where teddy (the wife of one of the cops) hears things....she's a "deaf-mute" in an earlier incarnation, though no longer referred to as such...mcbain says in the afterword that a reader said the term is derogatory...etc.
there's some nice scenes here...charlie chen, the tattoo artist is a hoot. chinese. although who knows...there's probably some that see some sort of defamation in his character, too. wonder when animal-rapists will march on washington?
good read...narrative follows several detectives as they try to solve cases...intense chase scene at the end there, teddy, deaf and mute, cop-wife....following...etc etc...
June 9, 2019
Countdown: Mid-20th Century North American Crime
BOOK 247 (of 250)
"Imagine your favorite 'Law and Order' cast solving fresh mysteries into infinity, with no re-runs, and you have some sense of McBain's grand, ongoing accomplishment," writes ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY on the back of the book cover/edition I read. I can only suppose they've read far into the series, as I'm just as book 4 and mystified by their popularity.
HOOK - 1 stars: This novel opens with a 2-page description of the average working person then offers another option: "You can, in short, become a con man." Then, it's several pages before any kind of story to kick in. Easy to just close these pages, really, and read no more.
PACE - 2: Eventually, this book kicks into gear, but only if you've stuck through the very slow opening.
PLOT - 1: Con men turn to murder to up their income. This is a problem for me. I get that an average person might be bored with their current corporate-type job (from the opening chapter) and con jobs might offer a thrill. But I don't believe for a second average joes, bored with regular work, turn to murder.
PEOPLE - 1: The author offers us more about Detective Steve Carella's speech and hearing impaired wife, Teddy. But Teddy follows, stupidly, a murderer to his home (and remember, Teddy can't call and explain to her husband where she is or is going or what she is doing...) and I didn't for a second believe she would do such a thing, certainly Steve keeps tabs on his wife. But the book and it's 'suspense' hinges on her naivete, and I didn't believe the whole thing.
PLACE - 1: Early on, a con victim, 'up from North Carolina' is victimized in a big city. I think that big city is NY. BUT, the killer puts a romance ad in a Phoenix newspaper and gets a response, meeting the victim...somewhere. Would a blind date fly from Phoenix to NY? It appears so, but I don't believe, probably because I just didn't believe the story line anyway.
SUMMARY - 1.2 stars overall. I gotta say this series has me confused. It's just not very good four books in. Now, in the author's afterword, the author acknowledges his publisher had him resurrect a character he had wanted to kill off in the 3rd book of the series: after all, said character "had been invisible in the 2nd book of the series and virtually non-existent in the 3rd book," writes McBain. To me, McBain's irritation shows in this 4th entry, easily the weakest of the first four of the series: there is just too many plot holes. Okay, there is a reason for the fame of this series, so I did read others.
BOOK 247 (of 250)
"Imagine your favorite 'Law and Order' cast solving fresh mysteries into infinity, with no re-runs, and you have some sense of McBain's grand, ongoing accomplishment," writes ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY on the back of the book cover/edition I read. I can only suppose they've read far into the series, as I'm just as book 4 and mystified by their popularity.
HOOK - 1 stars: This novel opens with a 2-page description of the average working person then offers another option: "You can, in short, become a con man." Then, it's several pages before any kind of story to kick in. Easy to just close these pages, really, and read no more.
PACE - 2: Eventually, this book kicks into gear, but only if you've stuck through the very slow opening.
PLOT - 1: Con men turn to murder to up their income. This is a problem for me. I get that an average person might be bored with their current corporate-type job (from the opening chapter) and con jobs might offer a thrill. But I don't believe for a second average joes, bored with regular work, turn to murder.
PEOPLE - 1: The author offers us more about Detective Steve Carella's speech and hearing impaired wife, Teddy. But Teddy follows, stupidly, a murderer to his home (and remember, Teddy can't call and explain to her husband where she is or is going or what she is doing...) and I didn't for a second believe she would do such a thing, certainly Steve keeps tabs on his wife. But the book and it's 'suspense' hinges on her naivete, and I didn't believe the whole thing.
PLACE - 1: Early on, a con victim, 'up from North Carolina' is victimized in a big city. I think that big city is NY. BUT, the killer puts a romance ad in a Phoenix newspaper and gets a response, meeting the victim...somewhere. Would a blind date fly from Phoenix to NY? It appears so, but I don't believe, probably because I just didn't believe the story line anyway.
SUMMARY - 1.2 stars overall. I gotta say this series has me confused. It's just not very good four books in. Now, in the author's afterword, the author acknowledges his publisher had him resurrect a character he had wanted to kill off in the 3rd book of the series: after all, said character "had been invisible in the 2nd book of the series and virtually non-existent in the 3rd book," writes McBain. To me, McBain's irritation shows in this 4th entry, easily the weakest of the first four of the series: there is just too many plot holes. Okay, there is a reason for the fame of this series, so I did read others.
August 11, 2013
Whether writing as Ed McBain or Evan Hunter, the author enjoyed great success for his inventive tales and fluent style. Time, though, has moved the police procedural genre a long way forward; the 87th Precinct series has period charm if you are kind or else feels simply dated.
Having been a devotee many years ago, I cannot really believe that even then The Con Man was McBain at his best. He has a trick of setting a theme - the city in the rain, for example here - and then knocking off an easy riff for a dozen paragraphs. The result is to stall the narrative and leave this reader anyway irritated.
The Con Man is not helped by the major of its two themes - a serial killer of vulnerable women - being not entirely plausible at the outset and close to barmy by its solution. I am sorry to have diluted my admiration for McBain.
Having been a devotee many years ago, I cannot really believe that even then The Con Man was McBain at his best. He has a trick of setting a theme - the city in the rain, for example here - and then knocking off an easy riff for a dozen paragraphs. The result is to stall the narrative and leave this reader anyway irritated.
The Con Man is not helped by the major of its two themes - a serial killer of vulnerable women - being not entirely plausible at the outset and close to barmy by its solution. I am sorry to have diluted my admiration for McBain.
February 7, 2012
A good book. Two main stories for the 87th precinct in this one. Detective Arthur Brown is the lead detective on a hunt for a con man tricking anyone from a young girl of her last $5 and sophisticated businessmen for hundreds. Detective Steve Carella is the lead on the hunt for a man who is poisoning young women and dumping them in the river; the "floaters" are found weeks or months later, making them much harder to identify and subsequently harder to track down the killer. Carella's beautiful deaf/mute wife Teddy plays a more prominent role in this book; we get a closer look into their relationship.
June 18, 2012
Steve Carella of the 87th Precinct is on the trail of a con man. His only clue is a tattoo on the hand of one of his victims.
Ed McBain is a master of police procedural, mystery, urban noir, etc. His books are packed with cops and crooks, danger and downtime, and the city in all its sleaze and in all its glory. The Con Man is no exception.
If you want a book that will keep you up all night because you can't put it down, look no farther (further?).
Ed McBain is a master of police procedural, mystery, urban noir, etc. His books are packed with cops and crooks, danger and downtime, and the city in all its sleaze and in all its glory. The Con Man is no exception.
If you want a book that will keep you up all night because you can't put it down, look no farther (further?).
August 11, 2016
The 87th have a run of floaters that set Steve Carella on the track of a con man and murderer, while Arthur Brown is hunting for a trickster that takes smaller sums from easy marks but is annoy when $5 is taken from a working girl. This is a simple easy to read detective novel that moves at a good pace and is consumed in two evenings. The series is now taking on some shape that gets you looking for the next edition.
September 12, 2018
The Con Man is the fourth book in the series by Ed McBain that features an ensemble cast of detectives in the 87th precinct. Detective Steve Carella has emerged as the central figure among the detectives, despite McBain’s interest in keeping the cast strictly ensemble.
In this episode, two major crimes are simultaneously pursued. The first, involving con artists, allows McBain to demonstrate his formidable literary skills. Not only does he describe the confidence games themselves, but he waxes almost poetically about the skillful and artful deceptions perpetrated by these non-violent thieves.
The other and perhaps more heinous crime, involves murder. A female body has been found floating in the river Harb, and is so badly deteriorated that Carella is pessimistic about finding any clues that might lead to an arrest. The best lead is a distinctive tattoo between the victim’s thumb and forefinger, and when a second body appears in the river sporting a similar tattoo, Carella knows he’s onto something.
The beauty of the 87th Precinct series involves McBain’s ability to both describe police procedures and, in certain books, to delve deeply into the psychological machinations of his villains as well as protagonists. We see this to a lesser degree in the Con Man than in, for example, Let’s Hear It For The Deaf Man, but nevertheless get examples throughout this novel of the author’s abilities in both these realms. Interestingly enough, Carella‘s wife, Teddy, plays a more central role in this story, which offers us a glimpse into Carella‘s personal life with this most unique female character.
Both storylines start off a little slowly, but gradually pick up pace and by midway through the book, have captured the reader’s imagination. While there are stronger entries in the series than this, it is nonetheless a solid story. It’s a very quick read and one that is sure to be enjoyed by fans of the series.
In this episode, two major crimes are simultaneously pursued. The first, involving con artists, allows McBain to demonstrate his formidable literary skills. Not only does he describe the confidence games themselves, but he waxes almost poetically about the skillful and artful deceptions perpetrated by these non-violent thieves.
The other and perhaps more heinous crime, involves murder. A female body has been found floating in the river Harb, and is so badly deteriorated that Carella is pessimistic about finding any clues that might lead to an arrest. The best lead is a distinctive tattoo between the victim’s thumb and forefinger, and when a second body appears in the river sporting a similar tattoo, Carella knows he’s onto something.
The beauty of the 87th Precinct series involves McBain’s ability to both describe police procedures and, in certain books, to delve deeply into the psychological machinations of his villains as well as protagonists. We see this to a lesser degree in the Con Man than in, for example, Let’s Hear It For The Deaf Man, but nevertheless get examples throughout this novel of the author’s abilities in both these realms. Interestingly enough, Carella‘s wife, Teddy, plays a more central role in this story, which offers us a glimpse into Carella‘s personal life with this most unique female character.
Both storylines start off a little slowly, but gradually pick up pace and by midway through the book, have captured the reader’s imagination. While there are stronger entries in the series than this, it is nonetheless a solid story. It’s a very quick read and one that is sure to be enjoyed by fans of the series.
June 25, 2021
I've been away from the 87th Precinct series for a while; it's great to be back. These stories feel real -- as if they were truly taken from a police precinct and presented, without fanfare, to the general public.
Despite the realism, the prose is far from cut and dry, but neither is it flowery. Enough details to set the scene and especially to get into the minds of the characters.
Despite the realism, the prose is far from cut and dry, but neither is it flowery. Enough details to set the scene and especially to get into the minds of the characters.
May 28, 2021
This McBain is OK but not his better work. Two simultaneous story lines one a murder - a floater, the other a con man with multiple victims. Classic police procedural from the 50s.
February 6, 2019
Decent but not the best addition to this series. Carella deals with the murder of a young woman found in the river with a strange tattoo and the rest of the team deal with some confidence tricksters working the Precinct. Races along and, because of the familiarity with the characters after four books, it is a great comfort read. Unchallenging but worth a look.
July 10, 2020
This is probably about when the series settles into its pattern, very heavy on realistic police procedure and on the lives of the detectives--with Carella as the first among equals. There's not a lot of "mystery" here, more the detectives tracking clue after clue after clue. Later books add a lot more interest in the crimes and criminals.
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