Book info

• Title Jigsaw
• Author Ed McBain
• Year 1970
• Genres Mystery, Crime, Thriller

Detectives Brown and Carella answer a call to a double homicide. One guy broke in and another defended himself and now they both are dead. The case seems open and shut. Except for one piece of evidence: a torn picture in one of the dead men’s hands. When insurance investigator Irving Krutch turns up at the squadroom with another piece of the photograph, Brown and Carella realize their tidy little case isn’t so tidy after all. In fact it leads back to a six-year-old bank robbery that left the four robbers dead and $750,000 missing. Now they must search for the next missing piece of the picture...

Thoughts

It’s been a while since I’ve read an 87th Precinct book, I was obsessed with them for a while and raced through loads. Then I sort of lost interest for a while, but reviewing my old digital bookshelves has brought them back to mind again. I started reading this one, and I think I must have attempted it before because it rang a lot of bells. I don’t know why I gave it up because it’s a fun read, a bit different to the usual ‘someone’s been murdered, whodunnit?’ This time, it’s a bit of a treasure hunt, combined with some murder on top.

The best thing is how the different detectives work together, how they get on or don’t, the argument between Carella and Hawes about race was really interesting! I’m glad I’ve picked this series back up again, interested to see what’s next.

Rating: 4 / 5