ICE

by Ed. McBain ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 30, 1983

A dancer in a hit musical and a small-time cocaine dealer have both been murdered--and the bullets, tests prove, came from the same gun. So Carella of the 87th Precinct sets out to discover some link between the two victims--who are later joined by a third: a diamond-merchant, also killed by the tell-tale bullets. Unfortunately, however, the link between the dancer and the dealer is an obvious one: the dancer (despite protests to the contrary from her reed-student boyfriend) was a cocaine user/peddler on the side, something which becomes clear almost immediately (as does, more or less, the identity of the multiple-killer). So, with a particularly un-mysterious mystery this time, McBain stretches out the proceedings with subplots and sideshows, including: the ugly doings of the dead dealer's cronies, who torture the dealer's girlfriend (""'Cut off her nipple,' the priest said""); the dead dancer's links to a theater-ticket scam (a.k.a. ""ice""); and the soapy romance between two of Carella's colleagues. Longer but lesser McBain, then--okay on atmosphere and legwork but lacking the vivid plotting of the 87th Precinct at its recent best (Long Time No See) or even second-best (Heat).

Pub Date: March 30, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Arbor House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1983

Categories: FICTION