“Indicating he couldn’t possibly have hanged himself. He’d have been unconscious. You’re looking at a homicide here.”

“And so it began.”

“Onstage. It was the last dance. The last dance starts at two. The place closes at two-thirty, three.”
“So she left before the last dance, is that it?”

No!!! Not Danny the Gimp!!!

“…what we seem to have here is an old man killed for money, in effect, and a snitch killed for the same thing, in effect, and a go-go girl killed for we don’t know what…”. Yep, that’s what the detectives of the 87th are dealing with in this book. It's pretty much just one case, and it's a good one! I liked that it rebounded from the last one in the series that I read, "Romance", and got back to what I enjoy most about these books. I will say though, that it did focus on a play again (like the previous book I already mentioned), and I hope that the remaining handful of books in this series don't mention plays, or the stage, or any of that malarky! Fingers crossed!

The 50th book in this series! I can’t believe I’m almost to the end! I’m kind of bummed about that to be honest. But again - NO MORE PLAYS!!! ( )

Check out more crime, thriller and pulp reviews on criminolly.wordpress.com

Even when McBain isn’t at his best, he’s still very good. With that in mind I really struggled to rate ‘The Last Dance’. It’s not as good as most of the entries in the series, so I wanted to give it a rating that differentiated if. But what would I rate it if I’d picked it up fresh and it had a different name on the cover. I think it would get a 4, but I’ve given it a 3 on the basis that I can’t always rate the 87th books 4 or 5.
This one sees Carella and Meyer investigating what at first seems to be an unexplained death, then something more, then something else again. Fat Ollie Weeks puts in an appearance, and is good value as ever, as the investigation moves to the seamier side of the city.
What lets this one down for me is that the mystery just isn’t that compelling or interesting. The incidental detail is as good as ever though, with neat forensics work, cracking dialogue and some great humour. Fat Ollie continues to develop nicely as a character, and the ongoing story of Carella dealing with the death of his father is nicely handled.
Not the best then, but still a good read.

( )

The weakest book in this series, as far as I recall. Could not wait for it to end. An elderly man, is found dead in bed by his daughter, but is fully clothed. As it turns out, he inherited the rights to a play, which a director is trying to revive, and has offered a share to the daughter. Then a series of other seemingly unrelated parties start dying. The pairing of the detectives keeps switching, and too many parties. Did not like this one. ( )

Carella and Meyer investigate the death of an elderly man in a shabby apartment. What appears to be a suicide turns into a murder investigation. Then a couple of elderly women are mysteriously murdered for what appears to be no reason until it is discovered that they both are connected to a play and a musical produced in the 1920's and now planned to be revived. The usual crew of detectives work the case and even fat Ollie Weeks helps out.

Ollie becomes interested in learning to play the piano so he can play five songs. This reader felt sorry for the elderly music teacher who will try to teach him as Ollie has no idea of how much time and work he must put in to accomplish his objective.

Another entertaining read about the 87th Precinct. ( )

Another few weeks in the 87th Precinct deals with several different types of murder...a hanging, a stabbing, and a broken neck! Fat Ollie, who's both compelling and repulsive, is a main character in this one. The author's witty dialog drives the plot forward and adds humor to some typically gory situations. Good to the last page. ( )