I discovered the 87th Precinct stories when I was about 14 or 15. It still amazes me how he has managed to be so prolific (the 87th stories, the Matthew Hopes, occasional non-series stories, and his non-genre novels under his own name, plus the occasional screen- and teleplay) over the last 40 years, without a significant drop in quality.

TV trivia: Some of you may recall that there was an 87th Precinct TV series back in the early '60s. Who played Carella? Who played Meyer? And who played Teddy Carella? All three are well-known to TV and film buffs, BTW.

Paul W. By "under his own name," one assumes you mean Evan Hunter, under which name he wrote "The Birds," "The Blackboard Jungle," "Every Little Crook and Nanny," "Bye, Dad" and a number of other worthy titles.

It is a common error. McBain/Hunter has NEVER written a book under "his own name," which is Salvatore Lombino.

Augusta's side of the story!!!! She was found in bed with her photographer in her and Bert's apartment, in their bed. The moment she made that decision, her side of the story became that she no longer gave two hoots about Bert or the hell he went through when she was kidnapped. I realize that this was very traumatic situation for her also and this may have been her way of lashing out as a result. But claiming post-traumatic stress while getting her hair tossed does not justify her behavior and I think that's about all I have to say about that.

Thank you Janis for the title of the new 87th book.

Melissa, you are absolutely right. My last posting does read like I am trying to justify Augusta's behavior. I wasn't, her actions were inexusable. Let me try to clarify my point. As I wrote on my first message, the first 87th Precinct story I read was the "Heat" excerpt in a 1981 issue of Playboy. In Heat, Augusta was portrayed as a shallow liar. Later, I read "McBain's Ladies" and in the novels in which she appeared previous to Heat, I was surprised that Augusta was different. McBain kept developing her character in such a way that she became the "ideal woman"- beautiful, smart, and loving. In "So Long As You Both Shall Live", Augusta was given the spotlight, and the way she faced her kidnapper made her sympathetic and a character readers would care about. McBain changed Augusta 180 degrees. Granted, he gave subtle clues to her future actions- for example, when Bert was observing her photo session before he asked her out on their first date, he was amazed on how she changed from one moment to the next and wonders how many "faces" Augusta has and how many he will get to know. Another clue was when Bert told Steve Carella that he was going to marry Augusta and asked Steve why he married Teddy; Steve replied that he couldn't bear the thought of another man touching her- the exact scenario that Bert would encounter years later. What I meant about Augusta's version is not a justification of her actions but a story to let readers know what happened after Bert caught her in bed with her lover- did she attempt to explain herself, did she and Bert even speak to each other before their divorce became final- these are question I would like answered because with Bert's other relationships, there was closure- Claire was killed, Cindy Forrest told Bert she was going to marry another man, but with Augusta, McBain just simply wrote her out of the series. Since Augusta is a model, wouldn't there at least be some kind publicity about her? In "Ice" it was mentioned that Augusta was on television commercials, did she eventually do movies or what? I want to know if she stayed with Larry Patterson, who was the director of the commercial she was doing not a photographer, or did she just use him? I reread "Romance" last week, and I think that Sharyn is just a gimmick; she will probably break up with Bert due to the racial difference. To tell you the truth, I would like Augusta to try to reconcile with Bert and Bert rejecting her. I think its time for Bert to do the dishing out; he deserves some payback. What do you think?

Well. Just finished"The Last Best Hope" and conclude we won't be seeing any more of Mathew Hope since at the end of the book, Mathew decides to make a complete career change. It's a weary Mathew we find here but at least he's still alive so somewhere down the road----. Still I feel sad.

I am reading The Big Bad City. One major story line ( and by the way I love how Mr McBain always has several going throughout each book) is about the man who killed Carella's father. I had not read about that and I was wondering if it was in a previous novel that I missed or if he just jumped in with all this info that seems to be from a previous novel but isn't. If someone could tell me so I could read up on it. I prefer to read in chronological order if possible. Thank you.

Carella's father was murdered in Widows which was published in early 90's, after Vespers, I think. Carella had a chance to kill him but didn't. I didn't know there was an 87th Precinct series on ever. I wish TV Land would televise it as they have on lots of mysteries - Nero Wolfe, etc. I just finished "Big Bad City" and know I have another year+ for another one. It was very good but somehow the nun character didn't come off as real to me.