Book info

• Title Ax
• Author Ed McBain
• Year 1960
• Genre Mystery

Eighty-six-year-old George Lasser was the superintendent of a building in the 87th Precinct until just recently. Unfortunately his tenure ended in the building’s basement with a sharp, heavy blade of an ax in his head... There are no witnesses, no suspects, and no clues. The wife and son? They’re both a little off-kilter, but they have alibis. Just when Carella and Hawes are about to put the case on the shelf, the killer strikes again. Now the detectives are hot on the trail of a man crazy enough to murder with an ax.

Thoughts

Whipped through this book in double-quick time, the story of our two favourite detectives (Carella and Hawes) investigating a brutal and gory murder committed by axe. I thought the story was fascinating, because it seemed such a horrendous murder from the outset but was the result of (minor spoiler alert) such a minor quarrel.

Also the way the detectives lives carried on regardless, that they had to keep dipping out to deal with other victims and situations, made it feel hectic and busy. There were a few good characters in the book, ones I would have liked to know more about but that’s never really the way with these 87th Precinct stories.

A good addition to the series, overall I enjoyed it.

Rating: 4 / 5