Killer's Wedge

87th Precinct books seem to either lose me in the first chapter or grab me by the lapels until the end. This one firmly falls into the latter category. A woman with an agenda walks into the station with a gun pointed at what she claims is a bottle of nitro, with the ultimatum that she must be able to kill Carella or the whole station will go up in smoke. Totally riveting action, with a little locked-room mystery on the side! The mystery isn't too weighty but it adds some lightness to a story which is otherwise pretty intense. Would have made for a dynamite 85-minute movie.

Pretty straightforward police procedural mixed with some Poseidon :) I loved how the author handled fleshing out a story that takes place over only a single day. Also some of the descriptions were really well done.

My favorite line:

“The clock on the squadroom wall, white-faced and leering, threw minutes onto the floor where they lay like ghosts of dead policemen.”

Good stuff.