Fiddlers

Six victims. Same gun. No link. The final 87th Precinct novel from the master...

It started with the blind violinist - shot twice through the head at point-blank range in the alley outside his dingy restaurant. But it''s only when the omelette lady gets shot with the same gun in the same way twenty-four hours later that the 87th Precinct really starts to sit up and take notice.

But Steve Carella and the boys at the Precinct always seem to be one step behind the killer, and are unable to prevent the death toll rising. The trouble is, while the gun is the same, none of the victims seem to be related in any way. And why is the killer heard to introduce himself as ''Chuck'' before pumping two bullets into their bodies?

FIDDLERS is a brilliantly twisting puzzle of a book where nothing is as it seems and the pace never lets up - Ed McBain at his very best.