Fiddlers: A Novel of the 87th Precinct (87th Precinct Mysteries) Hardcover – September 12, 2005 by Ed McBain 
Book 52 of 52: 87th Precinct Mysteries
 
Ed McBain's latest installment in the 87th Precinct series finds the detectives stumped by a serial killer who doesn't fit the profile. A blind violinist taking a smoke break, a cosmetics sales rep cooking an omelet in her own kitchen, a college professor trudging home from class, a priest contemplating retirement in the rectory garden, an old woman out walking her dog--these are the seemingly random targets shot twice in the face. But most serial killers don't use guns. Most serial killers don't strike five times in two weeks. And most serial killers' prey share something more than being over fifty years of age. Now it falls to Detective Steve Carella and his colleagues in the 87th Precinct to find out what-or whom-the victims had in common before another body is found.

With trademark wit and sizzling dialogue, McBain unravels a mystery and examines the dreams we chase in the darkening hours before the fiddlers have fled.
 
From Publishers Weekly
MWA Grand Master McBain's 55th 87th Precinct police procedural suffers by comparison with 2004's Hark! as well as other top books in this iconic series, but still has plenty of good moments. A killer living the high life is exacting the last full measure of revenge. As his victims pile up, the 87th falls prey to the FMU or "first man up" rule. Since the initial victim, a blind violinist shot in the face, was done on the 87th's turf, all subsequent murders are theirs as well. More are not long in arriving; each victim shot in the face at close range with the same 9mm Glock. The whole cast of the 87th is stretched thin trying to track down clues in geographically disparate killings. This gives McBain license to update us on such matters as the romance between Bert Kling and Sharyn Cooke and Fat Ollie Weeks's courtship of Patricia Gomez. All are searching for the one lead that will pan out gold. While McBain siphons off some suspense by making the reader privy to the killer's actions, and his trademark dialogue isn't as crisp as usual, he still delivers dependable entertainment.
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From Bookmarks Magazine
Over his lifetime, McBain wrote more than 100 novels, short stories, and screenplays. In these works, he helped define the police procedural genre with his gritty urban realism and flesh-and-blood characters. Critics agree that Fiddlers, his last work (McBain died this past July), is a fitting end to his long career—and a rewarding, if not perfect, cap to his 87th Precinct books. Readers familiar with this series will find the usual endearing characters and settings—Carella, his hearing-impaired wife, and their adolescent twins, and the fictional New York City metropolis of Isola. In a new twist, McBain examines the perspective of the killer, a tactic that sheds light on the latter’s murderous motives but diminishes suspense. All told, "McBain was a master, and his tales of the city are timeless" (Washington Post).
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.
 
4.5