Stephanie S. reviewed on 4/16/2016 + 168 more book reviews

This book has restored my faith in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series. For years I always looked forward to the next one. They were crisp and taut, focused and to the point, good mysteries that kept me guessing, with a recurring cast of likeable, quirky and sometimes maddening characters.

In recent years, though, McBain's writing became wordy and excessive. The stories began to contain (in my opinion) pages upon pages of unnecessary political slant: characters dissing the currect U.S. president, complaining about this and/or that policy, all clearly McBain's point-of-view, but not pertaining at all to the current mystery-at-hand, and doing nothing to move the story forward. Sleek, taut books of 180 pages bloated up to over 300, all unwelcomely to me. I was turned off as a reader.

So, Fiddlers is a happy surprise and a return to the good old 87th Precinct. A serial killer emerges. Our gang of cops tensely work to solve it, while dealing with some personal issues of their own. Every scene moved the story forward to its conclusion. A modest-ish 257 pages. No political stuff. I am delighted to recommend this one to any all lost McBain fans out there.

**** Four stars!

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