''Cop Hater'' (1956) is the first

87th Precinct The 87th Precinct is a series of police procedural novels and stories by American author Ed McBain (a writing pseudonym of Evan Hunter). McBain's 87th Precinct works have been adapted, sometimes loosely, into movies and television on several occ ...

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eith ...

novel by

Ed McBain Evan Hunter, born Salvatore Albert Lombino,(October 15, 1926 – July 6, 2005) was an American author and screenwriter best known for his 87th Precinct novels, written under his Ed McBain pen name, and the novel upon which the film ''Blackbo ...

. The murder of three detectives in quick succession in the 87th Precinct leads Detective Steve Carella on a search that takes him into the city's underworld and ultimately to a .45 automatic aimed straight at his head. Written by Evan Hunter using the name Ed McBain, the book was inspired by a television show he greatly admired, '' Dragnet''. McBain chose to set his 87th Precinct series in the fictional city of Isola, based on New York City. In 1958 it was made into a film of the same name. In 1961,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

developed an hour-long TV series ''

''. McBain's work inspired many other writers and television producers to further develop the police procedural genre. Most notably, in 1981

Steven Bochco Steven Ronald Bochco Masterson (December 16, 1943 – April 1, 2018) was an American television writer and producer. He developed a number of television series, including ''Hill Street Blues'', ''L.A. Law'', ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'', ''Cop Rock'' ...

produced the award-winning ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'' for NBC. Bochco set his gritty police drama in a precinct house in a fictional city much as McBain did in ''Cop Hater''. Apparently, Evan Hunter was unhappy with the similarity but he was reminded of his own borrowing of his predecessor's ideas.

Plot summary

The city has surrendered to a heat wave in July 1956. When

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

Mike Reardon is on the way to work on the nightshift, he is murdered from behind with a

.45 caliber This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets in the to caliber range. *''Length'' refers to the cartridge case Case or CASE may refer to: Containers * Case (goods) A case of some merchandise Merchandising is any practic ...

handgun A handgun is a short- barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ...

. As Steve Carella and his colleagues from the 87th Precinct are looking for their friend's killer, they have no idea that this is just the beginning of a series of police murders. David Foster is the next victim, at the entrance of his apartment, where the killer has left behind a footprint at the crime scene. Steve Carella and Hank Bush question the family and wives of the deceased, as well as some suspects, but to no avail. A few nights later the unknown killer ambushes and murders Det. Hank Bush. Bush fought back however and shot and wounded the murderer. Steve Carella fears he will be the next target if he fails to stop him. When Carella is leaving the precinct, he finds a reporter, Savage, waiting for him. He asks Carella his thoughts on who the killer might be, stating that everything is off the record. Carella reveals that - due to the evidence collected from Bush's murder - the police now knows certain attributes of the killer, i.e. weight, profession, and build. Carella leaves telling Savage that he is going on a date with his girlfriend, Teddy. The next day we find out that Savage has published the conversation between him and Carella, including Teddy's name and address. When Carella finds this out he rushes to Teddy's apartment, hoping the killer is not already there. When Carella arrives at Teddy's apartment he hears shouting and cursing coming from inside. With his .38 in hand, Carella enters Teddy's room and is immediately faced with a man aiming a .45 right at him. Carella drops to the floor the instant he enters the room and shoots the man holding the .45 twice in the thigh. After making sure Teddy is okay, Carella interrogates the man, finding out that his name is Paul Mercer and that he was the murderer of all three cops. After further interrogation it is discovered that Alice Bush was behind the whole plot; she had convinced a previously unknown man named Paul Mercer to commit the murders. Apparently she had promised him her affections once he had killed off her husband. In the end, both are sentenced to death for their crimes and Det. Carella marries his girlfriend, Teddy Franklin.

Character list

In order of appearance * Det. Mike Reardon, first victim, shot twice in the back of the head * Det. Stephen Louis Carella, protagonist * Det. Hank Bush, third detective to be murdered * Det. David Foster, only black detective, Mike's partner, second victim, * Lieutenant Byrnes, in charge of 87th detective squad * Frank Clarke, first suspect of shootings * Thomas Perillo * Alice Bush, wife of Det. Bush * Teddy Franklin, girlfriend of Det. Carella, deaf * Danny Gimp, police informant * Harry, bartender at The Shamrock * Cliff Savage, a newspaper reporter * Bert Kling, patrolman who was shot at a bar on Culver by a member of The Grovers * David Brockin, suspect of detective shootings * Captain Frick, commanding officer of the 87th precinct * Det. Roger Havilland * Oretha Bailey, woman who told Carella the cockroach-men were responsible for the murders * Det. Hal Willis, relatively small detective, Judo expert * Paul Mercer, murderer

Critical reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called the book "a tough, sexy novel with inherent honesty and decency."

References

External links

IMDb page for movie version of ''Cop Hater'' (1958)

''New York Times'' July 9, 2005 {{Ed McBain 1956 American novels American crime novels Novels by Evan Hunter Police procedurals Novels set in New York City American novels adapted into films