A vicious murder and a mauled corpse lead Officers Steve Carella, Arthur Brown, Meyer Meyer, and Fat Ollie Weeks of the 87th Precinct on an intense investigation into a counterfeiting conspiracy, with the media spotlights close on their trail. Steve Carella, Meyer Meyer, and Fat Ollie Weeks having been working the 87th Precinct for more than 40 years, but they're still the top dicks in town for devotees of Ed McBain's absorbing police procedurals. When a pretty, red-haired, ex-military pilot is killed, the boys in blue blunder around for a few chapters before they unmask her secret life as a drug courier. By then the burglar who broke into Cass Ridley's apartment and stole the "tip" she got for her last run has already tried to spend one of the $100 bills from her stash, attracting the attention of the Secret Service. The "superbill" is phony, and by the time Carella and his crew uncover the international counterfeit ring behind it, McBain has notched up the action with a terrorist plot to bomb Clarendon (read Carnegie) Hall, where an eminent Israeli violinist is performing. There's also a conspiracy involving a publishing company whose sales reps are so venal and violent you might think they were the creation of a writer who blamed them when his last book failed to sell. Not so McBain, who can't have too many complaints in that department. His publisher's reps have been living well for decades on the commissions earned on McBain's books (including those of Evan Hunter, his alter ego). That he has kept this series going for so long without tricking up the plots, turning his characters into stereotypes, or sacrificing their humanity is a tribute to his authorial gifts: expert pacing, sharp-edged dialogue, authenticity, wit, and confidence. There's only thing getting old in this, his 51st book in an evergreen series: the fictional convention that locates the 87th in a place called Isola instead of midtown Manhattan, where it so clearly is set. --Jane Adams McBain (a.k.a. Evan Hunter) has been writing his 87th Precinct series since the 1950s. In his books, the detectivesin this case, Carella and Meyernever see the whole picture, wrapped up as they are in problems of their own and in the web of lies that is spun around them. It's enough for them to get most of the bad guys for most of their crimes. Here, Carella and Meyer must team up on a murder investigation with Fat Ollie Weeks of the 88th because the lion habitat at the Isola Zoo straddles the boundary between the two precincts and one of the lions dragged part of a victim's body onto the 88th's turf. The body in the lion's den leads the detectives to several things: to a burglary, or at least the burglar; to some strange doings by the Secret Service; to some pretty big local drug dealers; and, finally, to some big-time dealers who don't mind leaving bodies strewn about. It also leads to Carella's needing to be saved more than once, first by his fellow officers and later by himself. McBain has earned rave reviews for his mysteries and for good reason. This latest 87th Precinct novel is recommended for all public libraries.Patrick J. Wall, University City P.L., MO Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. Cassandra Jean Ridley, a veteran Gulf War combat pilot, makes herself $200,000 running drugs into Mexico. Then she moves to New York and is the victim of a simple burglary. When the thief spends some of Cassandra's stolen money, it's no longer simple. Quickly, the bodies start piling up, including Cassandra's, which is discovered in pieces in the lion's den at the zoo. That draws the attention of 87th Precinct detective Steve Carella and his partner, Fat Ollie Weeks. Soon the Secret Service enters the mix, attempting to shoo Carella and Weeks away from what they contend is a federal case. McBain, who has been writing 87th Precinct novels for nearly a half-century, virtually invented the modern police procedural, and his mastery of the genre continues apace. Each installment in this landmark series offers further evidence of how fully McBain understands the importance of understatement in creating character and developing plot. While they're savoring this one, the author's fans should start look forwarding to the next, which will feature Fat Ollie in a starring role. Wes Lukowsky Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Ed McBain returns to his legendary 87th Precinct with a suspenseful story of greed, conflict, and the eternal search for money, money, money. is the only American ever to receive the Diamond Dagger, the British Crime Writers Association's highest award. He also holds the Mystery Writers of America's prestigious Grand Master Award. His most recent 87th Precinct novel was The Last Dance. Under his own name -- Evan Hunter -- his writing career has spanned almost five decades, from his first novel, The Blackboard Jungle, in 1954, to the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, to Candyland, his most r