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87th Precinct #33
Calypso
What a lousy way to die. Calypso King George Chadderton, murdered on a wet September street in the 87th precinct. Detectives carella & Meyer shake their heads in the grey drizzle. Cops can do withouth brains spattered on the sidewalk on a wet city night...
191 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
109 people are currently reading
413 people want to read
About the author
Ed McBain
604books647followers"Ed McBain" is one of the pen names of American author and screenwriter Salvatore Albert Lombino (1926-2005), who legally adopted the name
Evan Hunter
in 1952.
While successful and well known as Evan Hunter, he was even better known as Ed McBain, a name he used for most of his crime fiction, beginning in 1956.
He also used the pen names John Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, Dean Hudson, Evan Hunter, and Richard Marsten.
While successful and well known as Evan Hunter, he was even better known as Ed McBain, a name he used for most of his crime fiction, beginning in 1956.
He also used the pen names John Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, Dean Hudson, Evan Hunter, and Richard Marsten.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
March 4, 2015
George Chadderton is a musician who bills himself as the "Calypso King." Late one rainy September night, he leaves a gig with his manager and as the two are walking down the street someone comes up from behind them and shoots George to death. The killer also wounds George's manager in the shoulder. The manager falls to the ground and the killer stands over him and fires directly at his head. But the gun is empty and the killer is forced to flee, leaving the manager still alive.
A few hours later, it's still pouring rain, and a hooker who's looking for one last trick is shot to death with the same gun that killed Chadderton. Chadderton's murder took place in Isola's 87th Precinct and the case falls to veteran detectives Steve Carella and Meyer Meyer. They wake up the newly-widowed Mrs. Chadderton to give her the bad news while surreptitiously checking to see if she might have been the shooter herself. (They don't yet know that there is a second victim because the hooker was killed in another precinct and it will take a while before anyone realizes that the ballistics match.)
Mrs. Chadderton is a very attractive woman who works at a topless club. She appears to be devastated by her husband's death and has no idea who might have wanted to kill him. Sadly, there appear to be no leads at all, and in investigating the victim's background, the detectives discover nothing of interest save for the fact that Chadderton's brother, Santo, seems to have disappeared into thin air seven years earlier.
That's neither here nor there, and the case presents one of the toughest challenges to confront Carella and friends in any of the first thirty-three books in this series. This is also one of the best books in the series, and it first appeared in 1979. By then, McBain had really hit his stride and this is one that any fan of the series will not want to miss.
A few hours later, it's still pouring rain, and a hooker who's looking for one last trick is shot to death with the same gun that killed Chadderton. Chadderton's murder took place in Isola's 87th Precinct and the case falls to veteran detectives Steve Carella and Meyer Meyer. They wake up the newly-widowed Mrs. Chadderton to give her the bad news while surreptitiously checking to see if she might have been the shooter herself. (They don't yet know that there is a second victim because the hooker was killed in another precinct and it will take a while before anyone realizes that the ballistics match.)
Mrs. Chadderton is a very attractive woman who works at a topless club. She appears to be devastated by her husband's death and has no idea who might have wanted to kill him. Sadly, there appear to be no leads at all, and in investigating the victim's background, the detectives discover nothing of interest save for the fact that Chadderton's brother, Santo, seems to have disappeared into thin air seven years earlier.
That's neither here nor there, and the case presents one of the toughest challenges to confront Carella and friends in any of the first thirty-three books in this series. This is also one of the best books in the series, and it first appeared in 1979. By then, McBain had really hit his stride and this is one that any fan of the series will not want to miss.
May 26, 2017
A series of linked murders for Carella and Meyer to investigate, the first of them a calypso singer. The investigation includes a brief appearance by Fat Ollie Weeks from the 83rd Precinct, who in his own inimitable style provides a key link to the movements of one of the victims. Quite a dark book in comparison to most of the series
May 6, 2013
King George Chadderton is shot to death walking to the subway after his successful Calypso show, and his manager is shot too. A few hours later, a young black prostitute is killed with the same gun although Steve Carella and Meyer Meyer will not figure this out for days. Are the two murders linked, and if so, how? Chadderton is a talented musician, but egotistical and not well liked. He has been searching for years for his younger brother, Santo, who disappeared after a gig seven years ago. Steve Carella tries to make sense of George's songbook, and eventually is able to cobble together a motive and a perp.
July 4, 2018
Sometimes the cases that turn up at the 87th just get a little too kooky. The details about this seven-year kidnapping and torture, culminating in a city-wide murder spree are a little nuts even if the procedural work carried out by Carella and co is as solid as ever. Still, it's the little scenes that make this series stand out. One exchange with a larger-than-life restaurateur made me properly laugh out loud and Carella and Meyer's interactions with the blissed-out working girls preparing for an afternoon orgy was a delight.
March 17, 2018
A Calypso singer and a prostitute are both murdered. The two killings don't seem to be related to one another at first blush, but perhaps they are.
One thing I like about this series is that the books are different enough from one another that it doesn't become boring. I didn't like this one nearly as much as many of the earlier entries, but the plot is original and creative.
If you've never read an 87th Precinct book before, this isn't the one I would recommend. But if you like the series, you may want to try this one.
One thing I like about this series is that the books are different enough from one another that it doesn't become boring. I didn't like this one nearly as much as many of the earlier entries, but the plot is original and creative.
If you've never read an 87th Precinct book before, this isn't the one I would recommend. But if you like the series, you may want to try this one.
February 6, 2020
Carella and Meyer Meyer are trying to discover who has shot dead George Chadderton a calypso musician and injured his manager. All this taking place 7 years after the disappearance of George's brother Santo. Then the killer strikes again and a grisly tale unfolds of false imprisonment, torture and mental illness. Where does the trail end? The ringing of a telephone.
A pretty good read but not the best in the series so far.
A pretty good read but not the best in the series so far.
August 23, 2014
Every now and then I read one of the 87th Precinct books and they are just a bid odd. There was one that was a bit of a polemic about Mexican jails and prostitutes. No polemic in this one, but it does start with a couple murders and then veers into a very strange plot point that is not well explored or developed.
July 4, 2021
A rather bizarre plot situation with too many lewd circumstances for my taste. I cannot recommend.
November 11, 2021
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‘Calypso� is an archetypal 87th Precinct novel. It’s very funny at times, with dialogue that flows beautifully on the page. It has a solid (if not classic) mystery at its core that the bulls of the 87th solve by dogged determination and shoe leather rather and lofty theorising. And, despite its humour, it’s a book that never shies away from the impacts of social deprivation and crime on communities.
The novel follows detectives Steve Carella and Meyer Meyer as they investigate the apparently motiveless shooting of a calypso singer on a rainy night in the city. As the plot progresses, the body count rises, and while the cops know there is a connection between the victims, they struggle to figure out exactly what it is.
As with many of the 87th precinct novels, this is a book about working men. Resolution comes not through genius, but through sheer hard work. It’s an investigation that sees them investigating prostitution and other forms of exploitation, with an emphasis on the impact on the victims and their families. Written over 40 years ago, it’s a book that feels even handed in its treatment of race. There’s a well-handled analysis of the handling of crimes with black victims by white cops. At first, the non-appearance of the 87th’s black detective Arthur Brown feels odd, but as McBain develops the theme it makes more and more sense.
One character who does show up is the obnoxious bigot Fat Ollie Weeks. He’s as entertaining as ever, providing some light relief as Carella and Meyer struggle to make headway in the case. It’s a book where the reader is often ahead of the detectives, but McBain still manages to save some surprises for the end. The denouement is chilling and horrifying, with a gothic intensity that outclasses many horror writers.
If you’ve never read and 87th Precinct novel, this feels as good a place to start as any. It’s gripping and effortlessly entertaining. A small slice of crime genius from one of the masters of the form.
Wordpress:
YouTube:
‘Calypso� is an archetypal 87th Precinct novel. It’s very funny at times, with dialogue that flows beautifully on the page. It has a solid (if not classic) mystery at its core that the bulls of the 87th solve by dogged determination and shoe leather rather and lofty theorising. And, despite its humour, it’s a book that never shies away from the impacts of social deprivation and crime on communities.
The novel follows detectives Steve Carella and Meyer Meyer as they investigate the apparently motiveless shooting of a calypso singer on a rainy night in the city. As the plot progresses, the body count rises, and while the cops know there is a connection between the victims, they struggle to figure out exactly what it is.
As with many of the 87th precinct novels, this is a book about working men. Resolution comes not through genius, but through sheer hard work. It’s an investigation that sees them investigating prostitution and other forms of exploitation, with an emphasis on the impact on the victims and their families. Written over 40 years ago, it’s a book that feels even handed in its treatment of race. There’s a well-handled analysis of the handling of crimes with black victims by white cops. At first, the non-appearance of the 87th’s black detective Arthur Brown feels odd, but as McBain develops the theme it makes more and more sense.
One character who does show up is the obnoxious bigot Fat Ollie Weeks. He’s as entertaining as ever, providing some light relief as Carella and Meyer struggle to make headway in the case. It’s a book where the reader is often ahead of the detectives, but McBain still manages to save some surprises for the end. The denouement is chilling and horrifying, with a gothic intensity that outclasses many horror writers.
If you’ve never read and 87th Precinct novel, this feels as good a place to start as any. It’s gripping and effortlessly entertaining. A small slice of crime genius from one of the masters of the form.
April 7, 2024
A decent book in the series, somewhere in the middle of the series this far. It's a fairly good idea, a Calypso singer is killed and his business manager, who was with him was also injured badly, only surviving because the gun ran out of bullets. Detectives Carella and Meyer start their investigation, only to find out others have been killed with the same gun. They start to think that the killings have something to do with the missing Calypso singer's brother.
Not sure I would recommend it, nothing wrong with it just nothing all that memorable. McBain has the tendency to ramble about nothing at random moments, and you either enjoy that or find it to be boring filler. I happen to be in the latter category. The ideal really isn't a novel length ideal as written more like a novella that was stretched with filler just to get to a word count. Though again overall it's good enough, McBain definitely had written worse. Enjoy the Carella character and McBain is fairly good with dialogue.
Not sure I would recommend it, nothing wrong with it just nothing all that memorable. McBain has the tendency to ramble about nothing at random moments, and you either enjoy that or find it to be boring filler. I happen to be in the latter category. The ideal really isn't a novel length ideal as written more like a novella that was stretched with filler just to get to a word count. Though again overall it's good enough, McBain definitely had written worse. Enjoy the Carella character and McBain is fairly good with dialogue.
November 19, 2011
I've read many of McBain's books, for me he really sets the standard for the "police procedural", I find his earlier works are his best. This one in particular is the first which the antagonist is a psycopath, in the tradition of Norman Bates. How the author weaves the story line to Carella making the arrest is very realistic to how real serial killers are found....simply by a lucky break. I recall in the Son of Sam case back in the 70"s, he was found as a result of a parking ticket issued on his car on the night of one of his attacks in Brooklyn.
In Calypso it took the crime scene investigators finding sand at the scene. McBain knew how cops operate.
In Calypso it took the crime scene investigators finding sand at the scene. McBain knew how cops operate.
December 19, 2008
A typical procedural with the boys from the 87th Precinct, but the story of two related murders goes into some very dark and disturbing territory. I love that you never know where he's going to take you on these excursions.Unlike some ongoing series, I can read several of these and they stay pretty fresh!
September 9, 2018
Read this because a) I am reading Ghost which follows this one with a group soon, so I wanted to refamiliarize myself with all my friends @ the 87th Precinct & b) because I so love these books & characters that I love an excuse to drop everything & read one of them. Meyer & Carella, my favorite detectives @ the 87th, are investigating the death of a calypso singer & their investigation leads them down many strange & twisting paths. Teddy, another favorite character, gets only a brief walk-on, as do many of the other inhabitants of Carella’s world. This book is almost all the business of the investigation. I’ve read many books in this series, this is not a standout. That being said, any book by Grandmaster Ed McBain is better than most books by other authors in the crime genre. Always recommended.
January 2, 2025
Very strange story. The action takes place in unremitting rain. A Calypso singer George is murdered walking home from a gig. Then seemingly unrelated murders occur. Carella and Meyer investigate in a plodding police procedural way. Interviewing people and eventually find a possible suspect.
SPOILERS AHEAD
George’s brother Santo disappeared seven years earlier. He has been held captive as a sex slave by Lily a wealthy woman who is completely insane. She murdered George, Clara and the manager of George mistakenly believing they would reveal her secret. Poor Santo is literally flayed alive by her just as Carella and Meyer find her. Gory story.
SPOILERS AHEAD
George’s brother Santo disappeared seven years earlier. He has been held captive as a sex slave by Lily a wealthy woman who is completely insane. She murdered George, Clara and the manager of George mistakenly believing they would reveal her secret. Poor Santo is literally flayed alive by her just as Carella and Meyer find her. Gory story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2021
At 250 pages this is another longer installment of the 87th Precinct novels. Unlike many of it's predecessors this one just follows a single case as Carella and Meyer track down a string of homicides committed with the same weapon. The title comes from the fact that the first victim was a calypso singer with dreams of making an album. About two thirds of the way through the reader is slowly let into the mind of the perpetrator and it's like nothing else the detectives from the 87th have ever had to deal with.
Good solid read, 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for ŷ.
Good solid read, 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for ŷ.
June 23, 2022
What a waste of paper! At this stage of McBain's career, perhaps the publishers didn't care anymore as long as it was on time for printing. Surely, he was paid up front and those concerned were banking on Carella and the 87th fan base to carry sales. It surely wasn't from the plot/story.
This entry in the series is not indicative of the better, well plotted, procedural style police stories. Quite the opposite. From an apparently random shooting of a local calypso singer, Mcbain trots Carella around Isola in search of clues and a lackluster story of record deals, prostitutes, and the worst expectations of Diamondhead (Harlem) residents.
Carella's altruistic morals are on display again as he is thrust into sexually tense situations. Good Guy, Steve! We get Fat Ollie Weeks toward the end of the story. And of course we get the mind-numbing repetition of each cast member's back story, how each borough, river, and precinct, got their names and what its like to live in THE only city that matters. (Even though McBain haphazardly renamed everything from NYC to his own for writing purposes, so the backstories are tripe.)
As the body count increases, we are served conflicting testimonials as to what happened to the first victim's missing brother (Santo), which is oddly forced in as a segway to the solution. It makes very little sense, even after the last page is turned.
We are given interludes from the deranged villain's lair and the missing brother's perspective. Mildly disconcerting while reading. Many things are left unexplained, from the seven year span of time from the disappearance to re-introduction of Santo, the actual kidnapping itself, his care by the mentally impaired homeowner and her dog, to her stories (wtf!) of her upbringing. No matter - her actions in general are not customary for any serial killer in history, nor is she given any truly developed back story/justification for her choices. Perhaps this maltreatment could have been a standalone story of woe, but McBain never connected her to Calypso King George's death, and others, beyond happenstance and the premise of "He told" or "She told."
By then, the crime and villain go overboard with unexplained torturous acts that are too much, even for Carella (for no other reason but finale fireworks, knowing you are near the end and have too many questions left unanswered...so distraction go.)
The over-sexualization within the story felt more for shock factor than insight or depth. The story is worse for it. We get little bullpen banter, no Kling, and little satisfaction from the overall effort.
Skip this one
Thank for reading.
This entry in the series is not indicative of the better, well plotted, procedural style police stories. Quite the opposite. From an apparently random shooting of a local calypso singer, Mcbain trots Carella around Isola in search of clues and a lackluster story of record deals, prostitutes, and the worst expectations of Diamondhead (Harlem) residents.
Carella's altruistic morals are on display again as he is thrust into sexually tense situations. Good Guy, Steve! We get Fat Ollie Weeks toward the end of the story. And of course we get the mind-numbing repetition of each cast member's back story, how each borough, river, and precinct, got their names and what its like to live in THE only city that matters. (Even though McBain haphazardly renamed everything from NYC to his own for writing purposes, so the backstories are tripe.)
As the body count increases, we are served conflicting testimonials as to what happened to the first victim's missing brother (Santo), which is oddly forced in as a segway to the solution. It makes very little sense, even after the last page is turned.
We are given interludes from the deranged villain's lair and the missing brother's perspective. Mildly disconcerting while reading. Many things are left unexplained, from the seven year span of time from the disappearance to re-introduction of Santo, the actual kidnapping itself, his care by the mentally impaired homeowner and her dog, to her stories (wtf!) of her upbringing. No matter - her actions in general are not customary for any serial killer in history, nor is she given any truly developed back story/justification for her choices. Perhaps this maltreatment could have been a standalone story of woe, but McBain never connected her to Calypso King George's death, and others, beyond happenstance and the premise of "He told" or "She told."
By then, the crime and villain go overboard with unexplained torturous acts that are too much, even for Carella (for no other reason but finale fireworks, knowing you are near the end and have too many questions left unanswered...so distraction go.)
The over-sexualization within the story felt more for shock factor than insight or depth. The story is worse for it. We get little bullpen banter, no Kling, and little satisfaction from the overall effort.
Skip this one
Thank for reading.
January 12, 2020
"He dialed the local police then, and identified himself, and told them what he had here, and asked that they send an ambulance at once.
'It's very bad,' he said. 'I've never seen anything like it in my life.'"
Indeed, there is a horrifying passage in the novel that explains what Detective Carella has seen and what a human being can do to another human being. Calypso (1979) is the 33rd installment in the famous 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain. Unfortunately, it is one of the weakest novels in the series. Not even close to a good installment such as, for instance Tricks that I recently reviewed.
The story begins strongly, with a precise, clinical description of a murder. A calypso singer is shot dead and his business manager wounded. They are ambushed as they walk from their performance. Some time later a black prostitute is shot; the detectives learn that the shooter might have been the same as in the calypso signer's murder, a "tall, slender man or woman dressed entirely in black." About 40% into the novel a new thread appears, one that features the calypso singer's brother. That thread involves a lot of brutality, albeit with a non-standard twist. Naturally, the two threads merge to provide a weak denouement.
Several passages in the novel are quite lame. For instance, a rambling fragment about obscenity, the inability to define it, and about obscenity laws: what Mr. McBain writes may be reasonable and clear, but it is out of place in the novel. There is a strange passage that describes Meyer Meyer's (another detective from the 87 Precinct) thoughts stimulated by the phrase 'plethora of daisies.' The stream of consciousness device is out of character in this police procedural. Sending orchids to potential victims? Come on! I don't believe Mr. McBain (Evan Hunter) spent much time writing this book.
Inclusion of powerful calypso lyrics is one of the few brighter spots of this below-the-average novel.
Two stars.
'It's very bad,' he said. 'I've never seen anything like it in my life.'"
Indeed, there is a horrifying passage in the novel that explains what Detective Carella has seen and what a human being can do to another human being. Calypso (1979) is the 33rd installment in the famous 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain. Unfortunately, it is one of the weakest novels in the series. Not even close to a good installment such as, for instance Tricks that I recently reviewed.
The story begins strongly, with a precise, clinical description of a murder. A calypso singer is shot dead and his business manager wounded. They are ambushed as they walk from their performance. Some time later a black prostitute is shot; the detectives learn that the shooter might have been the same as in the calypso signer's murder, a "tall, slender man or woman dressed entirely in black." About 40% into the novel a new thread appears, one that features the calypso singer's brother. That thread involves a lot of brutality, albeit with a non-standard twist. Naturally, the two threads merge to provide a weak denouement.
Several passages in the novel are quite lame. For instance, a rambling fragment about obscenity, the inability to define it, and about obscenity laws: what Mr. McBain writes may be reasonable and clear, but it is out of place in the novel. There is a strange passage that describes Meyer Meyer's (another detective from the 87 Precinct) thoughts stimulated by the phrase 'plethora of daisies.' The stream of consciousness device is out of character in this police procedural. Sending orchids to potential victims? Come on! I don't believe Mr. McBain (Evan Hunter) spent much time writing this book.
Inclusion of powerful calypso lyrics is one of the few brighter spots of this below-the-average novel.
Two stars.
October 22, 2018
Book #35 in the 87th Precinct series, Calypso explores a darker side of crime than McBain’s usual fare in this series.
Detectives Carella and Myer catch the case of a musician and his manager shot down in the street. The manager is wounded but survives while the musician is dead on the scene. Not long thereafter, a hooker looking for one last trick before calling it an evening, is similarly shot and killed. Carella and Myer are stymied by the lack of evidence and leads in either of the two apparently dissimilar cases. However, ballistics reveal that the same gun was used in both crimes.
As the days wear on, the case grows colder, and Carella in particular becomes more and more frustrated. Despite police protection, the manager of the deceased musician is killed, again with the same gun. There will still be more murders committed using the same weapon, and it is only by a stroke of luck that the case turns in favor of the police.
Along the way, McBain manages to entertain and amuse with his trademark wit, and reading the exchanges between Meyer and a couple of prostitutes during a search had me laughing out loud. We’re also treated to a cameo appearance by “Fat Ollie Weeks,� a racist and rather disgusting cop who happens to be good at the job and invariably provides some comic relief.
The book includes several seemingly trivial scenes that were more filler than anything that moved the story along, and these tended to bog down the momentum. Aside from this, however, McBain weaves together a complex and compelling story as he explores the depravity and sadistic capabilities of a psychopathic, seriously insane individual.
Of the many novels that I’ve read in this fine series, this is the most disturbing. The writing is still top notch and fans of the series should definitely include it in their plans.
Detectives Carella and Myer catch the case of a musician and his manager shot down in the street. The manager is wounded but survives while the musician is dead on the scene. Not long thereafter, a hooker looking for one last trick before calling it an evening, is similarly shot and killed. Carella and Myer are stymied by the lack of evidence and leads in either of the two apparently dissimilar cases. However, ballistics reveal that the same gun was used in both crimes.
As the days wear on, the case grows colder, and Carella in particular becomes more and more frustrated. Despite police protection, the manager of the deceased musician is killed, again with the same gun. There will still be more murders committed using the same weapon, and it is only by a stroke of luck that the case turns in favor of the police.
Along the way, McBain manages to entertain and amuse with his trademark wit, and reading the exchanges between Meyer and a couple of prostitutes during a search had me laughing out loud. We’re also treated to a cameo appearance by “Fat Ollie Weeks,� a racist and rather disgusting cop who happens to be good at the job and invariably provides some comic relief.
The book includes several seemingly trivial scenes that were more filler than anything that moved the story along, and these tended to bog down the momentum. Aside from this, however, McBain weaves together a complex and compelling story as he explores the depravity and sadistic capabilities of a psychopathic, seriously insane individual.
Of the many novels that I’ve read in this fine series, this is the most disturbing. The writing is still top notch and fans of the series should definitely include it in their plans.
July 18, 2020
In a series this long there are bound to be ups and downs, but this was definitely the worst one I've read yet (and I've been reading them in order, so this is literally the 33rd one that I've read). I just couldn't buy the "sex fiend kidnaps someone and keeps them locked up on their private island for seven years" as a remotely viable solution, and the violence at the end was way too far.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2021
Ponderous
Slow going and plenty dirty
Way below previous books
Slow going and plenty dirty
Way below previous books
April 22, 2025
This is a dark story all in all. It's quite compelling, and curiosity builds as it goes on, not least because the reader starts to be allowed into the other perspective -- not the killer's perspective exactly, but one of the killer's victims. But that means, you know who did the who-dunnit. Reader curiosity hinges on how and when Capella and Meyer will work it out. Meanwhile, you get to see just how nasty things can be.
There's always a bit of humour to lighten the darkness in McBain. Monghan and Monroe, the vaudeville act of homicide detectives, put in an appearance near the beginning, and their dialogue is amusing. Fat Ollie Weeks returns too, for longer than the single paragraph in the previous novel, but still only one chapter, and he's not especially amusing.
There are some running jokes about breasts. But how funny are they really? The "tall [also half-naked] redhead" who "had very long legs and rather exuberant breasts with nipples that peered at each other as though in need of an opthalmologist". It's jokey, yes, but hell -- it's hard to visualise for me, at least. Still McBain is taken with his own joke because soon the redhead gets the giggles and her laughter "jiggled her exhilarated breasts and caused them to look even more cross-eyed than they had a moment before". So the breasts are first exuberant, then exhilarated. Later, she shrugs. A mistake. "Each time she shrugged, her nipples demanded corrective lenses." But McBain is not going to give up easily. This girl is determined to seduce someone, and she is armed with exuberant breasts. Later, she's talking about her dead friend: "'She's dead, she ain't gonna take no more trains no place,' she said, vigorously shaking her head and her breasts from side to side." At which point, Meyer remarks: "Will you go put something on? [...] You're making me dizzy."
SPOILER ALERT
The novel is dark and the resolution is extremely dark.
The most interesting point is the power that women do or don't have.
Women turn to prostitution to get out of the poverty that drives them into prostitution. They turn to alcohol to alleviate their woes. They try to seduce cops. Why? It's never very clear, especially when some of the seductresses work in the sex industry, so sex is certainly no antidote to boredom. Maybe they do it because cops have power and they don't.
But then one woman here is holding a man captive and murdering his associates. Not only that. She's torturing him, and he dies a horrible death as a result of her imaginative ways of causing pain. So this particular woman is powerful, nearly powerful enough to defeat Carella's detecting scrutiny. In fact, she has got away with her secret sadism for several years.
There is a long, long tradition of this. Women in old stories are either beautiful victims who have to be rescued, or they are evil Belle Dame Sans Merci types. Not much in between, friends.
But the evilly potent villainness here is utterly insane. Her insanity is driving her actions and her agency. She is a woman who has been driven insane by men. She's dangerously (in every sense) ill.
Women in McBain-land are rarely really intelligent. It's a great pity that the Deaf Man was not a Deaf Woman. That might have been something. As it is, if a woman is attractive and smart, she tries to seduce Carella because, well, she's attractive and smart. He resists because of the unusually beautiful, seductive wife he has at home, although he is tempted. He is certainly tempted.
Nobody tempts his wife, Teddy Carella.
There's always a bit of humour to lighten the darkness in McBain. Monghan and Monroe, the vaudeville act of homicide detectives, put in an appearance near the beginning, and their dialogue is amusing. Fat Ollie Weeks returns too, for longer than the single paragraph in the previous novel, but still only one chapter, and he's not especially amusing.
There are some running jokes about breasts. But how funny are they really? The "tall [also half-naked] redhead" who "had very long legs and rather exuberant breasts with nipples that peered at each other as though in need of an opthalmologist". It's jokey, yes, but hell -- it's hard to visualise for me, at least. Still McBain is taken with his own joke because soon the redhead gets the giggles and her laughter "jiggled her exhilarated breasts and caused them to look even more cross-eyed than they had a moment before". So the breasts are first exuberant, then exhilarated. Later, she shrugs. A mistake. "Each time she shrugged, her nipples demanded corrective lenses." But McBain is not going to give up easily. This girl is determined to seduce someone, and she is armed with exuberant breasts. Later, she's talking about her dead friend: "'She's dead, she ain't gonna take no more trains no place,' she said, vigorously shaking her head and her breasts from side to side." At which point, Meyer remarks: "Will you go put something on? [...] You're making me dizzy."
SPOILER ALERT
The novel is dark and the resolution is extremely dark.
The most interesting point is the power that women do or don't have.
Women turn to prostitution to get out of the poverty that drives them into prostitution. They turn to alcohol to alleviate their woes. They try to seduce cops. Why? It's never very clear, especially when some of the seductresses work in the sex industry, so sex is certainly no antidote to boredom. Maybe they do it because cops have power and they don't.
But then one woman here is holding a man captive and murdering his associates. Not only that. She's torturing him, and he dies a horrible death as a result of her imaginative ways of causing pain. So this particular woman is powerful, nearly powerful enough to defeat Carella's detecting scrutiny. In fact, she has got away with her secret sadism for several years.
There is a long, long tradition of this. Women in old stories are either beautiful victims who have to be rescued, or they are evil Belle Dame Sans Merci types. Not much in between, friends.
But the evilly potent villainness here is utterly insane. Her insanity is driving her actions and her agency. She is a woman who has been driven insane by men. She's dangerously (in every sense) ill.
Women in McBain-land are rarely really intelligent. It's a great pity that the Deaf Man was not a Deaf Woman. That might have been something. As it is, if a woman is attractive and smart, she tries to seduce Carella because, well, she's attractive and smart. He resists because of the unusually beautiful, seductive wife he has at home, although he is tempted. He is certainly tempted.
Nobody tempts his wife, Teddy Carella.
October 4, 2020
Zavražděný hudebník. Kdo za tím stojí? Lidi, co tahají peníze z hudebníků toužících po slávě? Ti, které mrtvý kritizoval svými protest songy? Nebo snad někdo z porno průmyslu? (Hudebník byl zastřelený tou samou zbraní, jakou o pár hodin později umřela prostitutka.) Policie � samozřejmě � tápe. A chodí a vyptává se a díky tomu se představují další zajímavé světy a postavy. Ano, dneska už méně zajímavé než v těch sedmdesátých letech, ale pořád je to fajn.
McBain si stále udržuje úroveň, navíc tady v polovině knihy nečekaně prudce navýší sázky. A jak je u autora zvykem, po stovce stránek bloudění v kruhu nastává průlom � a během několika stran se případ vyřeší. McBain si na zbytečnosti nepotrpí. Byť jak je to „nic-nic-nic-nic-nic-všechno�, je to jako náraz do zdi.
Plus mám pocit, že Ollieho Weekse (ten se tady na chvíli taky objeví) autor vytahuje, když potřebuje urychlit děj a použít buldozer. Z hlediska morálního má tenhle polda možná své mouchy, ale zatím se zdá, že je ze všech McBainových hrdinů ten nejlepší policajt. Možná proto, že jak je mimo, nemusí ho autor tak tlumit a zobyčejňovat. A jak je to rasista a vůbec misantrop, tak to může vyvažovat inteligentními policejními postřehy, aniž by se z něj stal superborec.
Ve výsledku je Kalypso zajímavá, rychlá kniha se silným koncem. McBain je ve své vrcholném období a už se začíná blížit doba, kdy to půjde zase dolů. Ale zatím je to v pohodě.
McBain si stále udržuje úroveň, navíc tady v polovině knihy nečekaně prudce navýší sázky. A jak je u autora zvykem, po stovce stránek bloudění v kruhu nastává průlom � a během několika stran se případ vyřeší. McBain si na zbytečnosti nepotrpí. Byť jak je to „nic-nic-nic-nic-nic-všechno�, je to jako náraz do zdi.
Plus mám pocit, že Ollieho Weekse (ten se tady na chvíli taky objeví) autor vytahuje, když potřebuje urychlit děj a použít buldozer. Z hlediska morálního má tenhle polda možná své mouchy, ale zatím se zdá, že je ze všech McBainových hrdinů ten nejlepší policajt. Možná proto, že jak je mimo, nemusí ho autor tak tlumit a zobyčejňovat. A jak je to rasista a vůbec misantrop, tak to může vyvažovat inteligentními policejními postřehy, aniž by se z něj stal superborec.
Ve výsledku je Kalypso zajímavá, rychlá kniha se silným koncem. McBain je ve své vrcholném období a už se začíná blížit doba, kdy to půjde zase dolů. Ale zatím je to v pohodě.
January 25, 2023
Usually, I think that mystery novels are stupid and a complete waste of my time. However, that changed when I picked up this book. Written by Ed McBain, a famed mystery novelist, the book was very engrossing and contained lots of eloquent and descriptive language. McBain also did an excellent job of introducing characters and keeping the plot interesting.
That is, however, when the book was not describing graphic sex scenes. Which, I thought, were completely unnecessary and very unpleasant to read. Apparently, McBain put these scenes in the book in order to gross a larger audience for his books. Personally, it was these scenes that made me give this book four stars instead of five. This book is definitely not for you if you don't like vulgar language or graphic violence and sex scenes. Graphic violence, as I forgot to mention, was also added throughout, and while I understand that this is a 'murder' mystery I could not sleep for a night after I read the ending.
But, despite this I thought that the book was excellent. It was suspenseful, dramatic, and interesting to read. I would definitely recommend it.
That is, however, when the book was not describing graphic sex scenes. Which, I thought, were completely unnecessary and very unpleasant to read. Apparently, McBain put these scenes in the book in order to gross a larger audience for his books. Personally, it was these scenes that made me give this book four stars instead of five. This book is definitely not for you if you don't like vulgar language or graphic violence and sex scenes. Graphic violence, as I forgot to mention, was also added throughout, and while I understand that this is a 'murder' mystery I could not sleep for a night after I read the ending.
But, despite this I thought that the book was excellent. It was suspenseful, dramatic, and interesting to read. I would definitely recommend it.
September 9, 2022
The 33rd book in McBain’s 87th Precinct series is one of the author’s more sensational and marks a further broadening of the material covered. The mystery is initially intriguing but somehow loses momentum as the plot becomes more complex and sleazy. McBain’s core strengths of dialogue and characterisation are still very much in evidence but the increased quota of foul language and sex push the book back into the ranks of its imitators and competitors. There are elements, notably the male sex slave in captivity element, that feel forced to fulfil the publisher’s perceived desire to generate sales in a changing marketplace. A return appearance late in the book of Detective Fat Ollie Weeks gives the story a late boost and the book is still a good read overall, just not up there with peak McBain.
August 14, 2018
Yikes! Ed McBain typically provides a light little police procedural romp. Theres a murder. Let's find out who did the murder by being flat-footed cops that go out and beat the bushes. A plot twist here or there, to keep things interesting. Some hookers and drugs and violence. But light. In it's own way.
Not this one. This book is dark. Disturbingly dark for McBain. You can almost picture the bad weekend he had that inspired this dripping nightmare of a novel.
No spoilers, but holy crap, it freaked me out a little. And to think there was a time when McBain wasn't even allowed to swear in his books.
The plot is somewhat unbelievable. Still, I liked it a lot. Almost a gothic horror novel.
Not this one. This book is dark. Disturbingly dark for McBain. You can almost picture the bad weekend he had that inspired this dripping nightmare of a novel.
No spoilers, but holy crap, it freaked me out a little. And to think there was a time when McBain wasn't even allowed to swear in his books.
The plot is somewhat unbelievable. Still, I liked it a lot. Almost a gothic horror novel.
August 12, 2022
I had no idea that this was book 33 in a series until I came to write this review. It works well as a standalone. While there are several terms that wouldn't get published today throughout the book, they are pretty standard fare for a book published in the late 1970s. Sadly, however, society hasn't changed that much since this one was written and it could have just as easily been written about a crime committed today, though probably with a worse, less hopeful outcome than that given to the story by McBain. I'll definitely be picking up others in this series.
March 12, 2025
Calypso, Ed McBain [Avon, 1979]
In the fictional American big city of Isola, detectives of the 87th Precinct investigate the murder of a calypso musician, known for his socially conscious topical lyrics, which begins a string of killings.
***
Ed McBain (1926-2005) the pseudonym of Evan Hunter, was the prolific author of police procedural thrillers. Additionally, Evan Hunter wrote the iconic novel Blackboard Jungle and the screenplay adaptation of The Birds (based on Daphne DuMaurier’s short story), for Alfred Hitchcock.
In the fictional American big city of Isola, detectives of the 87th Precinct investigate the murder of a calypso musician, known for his socially conscious topical lyrics, which begins a string of killings.
***
Ed McBain (1926-2005) the pseudonym of Evan Hunter, was the prolific author of police procedural thrillers. Additionally, Evan Hunter wrote the iconic novel Blackboard Jungle and the screenplay adaptation of The Birds (based on Daphne DuMaurier’s short story), for Alfred Hitchcock.
March 18, 2019
This one is a bit convoluted; you'll have to keep what are apparently two separate stories flowing together in your brain until McBain makes the meaning plain. I've been reading the whole series chronologically: this one from 1979 is a lot more explicit and has more "language" than the earlier books. It's interesting to see how societal changes are reflected in an author's work. It's a bit grimmer than some of the others, but all the usual guys are on hand to see you through.
April 27, 2020
Strange happenings...
They do abound in this case. Different than other cases in which we have become involved, especially as we start moving toward the final scenes. You will meet the villain early on, but that will only add to the suspense. To say more would cloud...no maybe muddle the story. Best I stop now.
They do abound in this case. Different than other cases in which we have become involved, especially as we start moving toward the final scenes. You will meet the villain early on, but that will only add to the suspense. To say more would cloud...no maybe muddle the story. Best I stop now.
February 10, 2024
Like most 87th precinct books as the series progressed, it is very well written, the dialogues are excellent although somewhat repetitive, and the plot moves along. There are many tangents in this story and it feels as if they serve the purpose of filling up pages. As usual, McBain rambles on about the weather which gets sort of old. What takes away from this book (for me) is a macabre subplot running parallel to the detective's investigation that was very hard to read.
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