Book info

• Title He Who Hesitates
• Author Ed McBain
• Year 1965
• Genre Mystery

Roger Broome is in the city to sell the woodenwares he and his brother handcrafted in their shop upstate—and he does so with stunning success. To celebrate, he goes out to enjoy the fruits of his labor and winds up in a bar, where he meets Molly. They have a few drinks and then head back to his room. Now Molly is dead, and only Roger knows what happened. The men at the 87th would surely love to get that information from Roger…if they even knew he had it. While Roger wants to report what he knows to the detectives, he struggles to reach out to them when a Spanish beauty named Amelia makes him forget everything else in his life. And with each missed opportunity, Roger delays justice from being served.

Thoughts

This book was slightly different to the more normal 87th Precinct series, taking the point of view of the criminal and sticking with it throughout the entire story. It was almost disconcerting that the regulars barely make any appearance in the book, with just a brief scene where we follow Carella into a restaurant, and a short interview conducted by Hawes (or Horse as it is misheard).

I quite enjoyed the new angle this story portrayed, particularly as it showed us the city from the point of view of a newcomer, and the police going about their business from outside the office. It was interesting to see how the story and the background unfolded, but I felt a bit disappointed with how the story worked out, although it makes perfect sense I guess.

Overall, a good 87th Precinct book, and I did enjoy the reference to the previous story - Ax.

Rating: 4 / 5