Killer's Wedge

Ed McBain's alter ego Evan Hunter often said the guiding principle behind his 87th Precinct series of police-procedural novels was developing a composite central character out of the squadroom itself. In few entries was he as successful in that regard as here, with one of his earliest stories. Virginia Dodge's husband just died in the clink, and now she wants to kill the man who sent him up, Det. Steve Carella. Lucky for Carella, he's on a case when she shows up in the 87th Precinct squadroom with a loaded revolver and a bottle of something she claims is nitroglycerin. "Don't open that door, Lieutenant," she warns an officer about to run for help, "or I'll fire into this purse and we can all go to Hell!" Published in 1959, "Killer's Wedge" feels like a wedge itself of sorts, as it marks out the beginning of McBain's harder narrative voice. There's sex talk, profanity, and a distinctly areligious tenor here, not to mention a lingering, detailed description of a lusty woman's bodily charms, all familiar to readers of McBain's later works. It's a short, tense read, with remarkable twists and turns McBain throws up as deftly as a Vegas cardsharp. Various members of the 87th Precinct detective squad, who get more attention than usual here with McBain's favorite son Carella elsewhere, try various ploys to disarm Dodge, risking life and limb in gambits that often end unpleasantly. Carella, meanwhile, is kept busy working on a more traditional whodunit caper involving a dead man in a locked room, where events move more routinely, though not without suspense given what the reader knows about what's awaiting Carella back at the precinct house. McBain really shines with his main story, giving Dodge a vaguely sympathetic character (her husband was her reason for living, even if he was a louse) at the same time he makes us hate her for the way she treats her hostages. As time passes, it becomes clearer how much she is enjoying herself trifling with people's lives. Like the detectives, you have both a desire to see her die and a strange guilty feeling about it, as McBain presents her less as evil than fatally limited, if dangerous all the same. Not everything is resolved at the story's end, like the fate of a minor character McBain makes us care about, and some things like the presence of Carella's deaf-mute wife feel artificially tacked on, but this is a quality story, not just a quick page turner but a unique one you will chew on long after you put it down. McBain wrote better books, but this one shows why the series endured as long as it did, and is remembered with affection by so many: It's a showcase for a master.

Killer's Wedge opens on a bravura piece of writing ,one which establishes mood and atmosphere quite brilliantly as well as setting the period with deft economy .It details the sights ,sounds and atmosphere within the squadroom -aan ambience that is a compound of typewriter sounds, cursing and casual profanity and the ringing of a telephone clamouring for attention .The conversation is a mix of dirty stories and complaints --please note ,if you object to this sort of thing ,the stories are not related to the reader and neither is the profane language .The atmosphere is masculine and as this is a 1950's novel women police officers are not as prominant as they would be in a novel written now . A woman does enter the squadroom -a woman clad wholly in black and resembling ,as one officer remarks ," death personified " .She demande to see Detective Steve Carella who sees blames for the death of her husband in prison ,where he was sent after Carella secured a conviction .She is Virginia Dodge and she has the means of backing up her demand -a container of nitro -glycerin that she threatens to detaonate if Carella is not brought before her .The problem is that he is out on a case -an alleged suicide at the home of the wealthy Scott family .The head of the family has allegedly killed himself by hanging but Carella is sceptical as there is no discernable motive and the man's children were not exactly noted for their displays of afection for their late father . We cut back from his investigation to the scenes in the squadroom where Virginia holds the detectives under the gun and the nitro .Also present in the squadroom is a recently arrived Puerto Rican streetwalker accused of stabbing a gangleader .There are attempts to smuggle out a message to passers by of the situation in the squadroom and the author deftly builds up the suspense around these .Add the arrival of Carella's pregnant deaf-mute wife Teddy and the suspense intensifies . This is a well characterised novel and the squadroom scenes are palm sweatingly tense .I was less taken by the scenes at the Scott mansion -that case is essentially a locked room mystery and McBain even invokes the classic writer of such tales John Dickson Carr .The strenght of this series is its sense of realism and the interaction of the various personalities in the squad .The intrusion of elements drawn from the classic cosy mysteries of an earlier age are intrusive This is a minor quibble however and Killer's Wedge is a powerfrul and potent suspense tale that wears its age well

This is the 7th book I have read on the 87th Precinct. I think I have rated all of them a five. This one is great. Virginia Dodge holds the entire precinct as hostage waiting for Steve Carella to show up. She wants to kill him for arresting her husband, who then died in prison. She has a gun and a bottle of nitro or is it nitro???? She is mean, mad and means what she says. Meanwhile Carella is out investigating a suicide. Or is it a suicide? Was it murder??? He does not know anything is going on. Different officers try things to get the gun away from Dodge, and some pay for it. This is a quick read. It will hold you attention. You will not want to put it down. McBain has done another good one.

I've always loved McBain novels and Killer's Wedge definately didn't make me change my mindset. This novel epitomizes what the word "thriller" is all about. McBain's subtle writing style flows wonderfully from page to page. Virginia Dodge is the perfect femme-fatale: sexy, sultry, and oh so dangerous! I read the LARGE PRINT edition simply because I had forgeotten my glasses and bought this in an airport before a flight to Europe and I needed the large print so I could read it. But I'm positive you'll enjoy this book in any edition, it's solid, thrilling writing!!