When the symbol of a Satanic cult is left at the murder scene of a young Catholic priest, the cops of the 87th Precinct must keep it from becoming the spark which ignites the racial and ethnic tensions smoldering in the city.

During a sweltering heat wave, Detectives Carella and Kling try to make sense of an artist who turned off his air conditioning to commit suicide, but Kling has an even deadlier problem on his hands.

Ed McBain concocts a brilliant and intricate thriller about a master criminal who haunts the city with cryptic passages from Shakespeare, directing the detectives of the 87th Precinct to a future crime -- if only they can figure out what he means. The 87th Precinct gets a visit from one of the city's most accomplished criminals -- a thief known as the Deaf Man. Because he might be deaf. Or he might not. So little is known about the man who is harassing...

It is Christmas in the city, but it isn't the giving season. A retired Gulf War pilot, a careless second-story man, a pair of angry Mexicans, and an equally shady pair of Secret Service agents are in town after a large stash of money, and no one is interested in sharing.The detectives at the 87th are already busy for the holidays. Steve Carella and Fat Ollie Weeks catch the squeal when the lions in the city zoo get an unauthorized feeding of a young...

Six naked, murdered bodies on a cold January night put Detectives Carella and Kling in the middle of a full-on gang war and in a head-to-head battle with a mysterious criminal mastermind.

When a sniper begins gunning down cops from the 87th Precinct in cold blood, it's up to Detective Steve Carella to sort out who and why--before he finds himself on the wrong end of the killer's .45.

"A young girl jumps to her death. A salesman gets blown apart. Two semi-naked bodies are found dead on a bed with all the hallmarks of a love pact... Spring really was here for the 87th Precinct. Steve Carella and Cotton Hawes thought the double suicide stank of homicide, but they just couldn't get a break. Fortunately Hawes has something else going on in his life at the moment - something like love." -- Provided by publisher.