Fiddlers (2005)

by Ed McBain

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: 87th Precinct (55)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
471	10	55,950	(3.47)	7
Fiction. Mystery. Thriller. HTML: *A police detective hunts for a pattern in a puzzling murder spree in this mystery by "a master" (Time).* A blind violinist taking a smoke break. A cosmetics sales rep cooking an omelet in her own kitchen. A college professor trudging home from class. A priest contemplating retirement in the rectory garden. An old woman walking her dog. These are the seemingly random _targets, all shot twice in the face. But most serial killers don't use guns. Most serial killers don't strike five times in two weeks. And most serial killers' victims have something more in common than just being over fifty years of age. Now it falls to Det. Steve Carella and his colleagues in the 87th Precinct to find a connection that will crack this case�before another body is found. As Entertainment Weekly said about this long-running, much-loved police procedural series: "Imagine your favorite Law & Order cast solving fresh mysteries into infinity, with no reruns, and you have some sense of McBain's grand, ongoing accomplishment." .… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 8 (next | show all)

McBain had master his 87th Percinct approach by this point, this being the last one, master class in investigatory technique (

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jimifenway | Feb 10, 2024 |

The last novel of the 87th Precinct. Number 55. I can't believe the series is over for me. I'm gonna miss this town, and these people...

“Q: Why did you kill these people?
A: They fiddled with my life.”

“The Glock Murders” - first a blind violin player outside a nightclub, and then a woman cooking an omelet in her own apartment.

Fat Ollie gets the last sentence of the last book in the series:
“Hey, Patricia,” he said, “come on in.”

“The city in these pages is imaginary.
The people, the places are all fictions.”

Not for me they weren’t. Not for me. (

)

Stahl-Ricco | Jun 12, 2023 |

I feel I've read this one before. I enjoyed mostly the occasional appearance of other McBain characters in the telling of the story. A serial killer is shooting a wide variety of victims twice in the face. The solving of the case really seems to wander, but still enjoyable to listen to. (

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Pmaurer | Sep 11, 2016 |

My first McBain, a series of murders happen and through gun forensics, they are linked. Steve Carella and the 87th precinct realize they have a serial killer, but how and why are the victims chosen? Since this is the 57th book in the 87th precinct line, I'm thinking there was gold here at one time. This particular book was okay, I read it mostly to watch and learn about dialogue.

I will give Ed McBain the benefit of the doubt. I don't think a publisher would have hung in there with Ed if he wasn't good. I'm chalking this one up as a clunker. Not horrible, but not fantastic. Average. (

)

DanaJean | Aug 30, 2010 |

Every time I think I've exhausted the Ed McBain canon, I find another one. This one is another classic novel of the 87th Precinct. (

)

dickmanikowski | Jun 12, 2010 |

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▾Other authors

» Add other authors (3 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Ed McBain	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Penzler, Otto	—	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

87th Precinct (55)

Belongs to Publisher Series

Omnibus [Mondadori]

Gli Oscar Mondadori - Bestsellers (1937)

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Canonical title

Fiddlers

Original title

Fiddlers

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

New York, New York, USA

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

This is for my wife,
DRAGICA--
Here, now, forever

First words

The manager of Ninotchka was a wiseguy named Dominick La Paglia.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

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Wikipedia in English

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▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Mystery. Thriller. HTML:

A police detective hunts for a pattern in a puzzling murder spree in this mystery by "a master" (Time).

A blind violinist taking a smoke break. A cosmetics sales rep cooking an omelet in her own kitchen. A college professor trudging home from class. A priest contemplating retirement in the rectory garden. An old woman walking her dog. These are the seemingly random _targets, all shot twice in the face. But most serial killers don't use guns. Most serial killers don't strike five times in two weeks. And most serial killers' victims have something more in common than just being over fifty years of age.

Now it falls to Det. Steve Carella and his colleagues in the 87th Precinct to find a connection that will crack this case�before another body is found.

As Entertainment Weekly said about this long-running, much-loved police procedural series: "Imagine your favorite Law & Order cast solving fresh mysteries into infinity, with no reruns, and you have some sense of McBain's grand, ongoing accomplishment."

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