Hark! The 87th Precinct Podcast

HARK! It's an 87th Precinct bonus podcast.

Learn everything about 1972, the year in which the 26th book in the 87th Precinct series was published, in our bonus episode. Albums, Singles, Films, TV... and we do manage to talk about Ed McBain and the books as well. 

We investigate our copies of the book and look at the original editions - find everything on our Instagram page - and decide on who we're putting forward for our fantasy-casting of the unluckiest cop in the squad - Detective Bob O'Brien. Find out who we set our casting sights on for the next episode as well. There's a bit of history of the NYPD, a bonus squeak from a cat called Sally and then we're done! See you soon for Book Number 27! 

Fare Thee Well.

H*A*R*K It's an 87th Precinct podcast!

The year is 1972 and Gerald Fletcher has just come home to find his wife eviscerated on the bedroom floor and his apartment burglarised. Luckily the police catch the burglar. Case solved? Well, not quite. Carella becomes Columbo in this tale of identity, betrayal, lost and found (and lost again) loves at Christmas in the Eight-Seven. [This episode marked as 'Explicit' due to some of the words taken from this book...]

Paul, Morgan and Stevo discuss the book and take a look at what Evan Hunter was up to in 1972 in other areas and we relate some contemporary reviews of the novel as well. Our contextual chat about the year can be found in the upcoming bonus episode!

Thanks for your continued support. Please rate, review, listen and share. We love to get your contributions and comments. Also, if you're wondering what we're giggling about and saying the word "Neasden" for, please watch this Youtube clip of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.

We'll see you again soon for the return of the 87th Precinct's arch-nemesis in "Let's Hear It For The Deaf Man". Fare Thee Well.

IGNITION! It's an 87th Precinct Side-Pod.

Strap on your heavy metal space boots, take a sip from your feeding tube and hail that space taxi - we're launching into orbit and beyond in this special edition all about the Richard Marsten science-fiction book Rocket To Luna.

Another story in the Winston Science Fiction range (as with Danger: Dinosaurs), Rocket To Luna sees Marsten/Hunter speculate on what could happen on the first trip to the moon in the far off year of 1983, imagine what it would be like to be seventeen and in space and provide a stark warning about the hazards of poor riveting.

To discuss whether the story is riveting or not is returning guest, Garry Abbott, who earns his return visit by virtue of his own works as a writer of speculative fiction and sci-fi. Find Garry's author page here. Join us to hear all about this book, all about a particular film and discover why Paul wasn't allowed to go into space in the eighties himself. Until next time, Fare Thee Well.

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Bonus Episode.

Well, here we are with our usual look at the book covers of the original US and UK editions of this 1971 story, followed by the now-displaced exploration of the year (music, movies, politics, infrastructure) for the benefit of all of you who can't wait to hear people trying to guess which "Carry On..." movie came out, again. Find the photos of the covers and other stuff at our Instagram feed: www.instagram.com/hark87podcast

We then move into exploring options for who we might cast as Detective Arthur Brown in our fantasy 87th Precinct TV series - thanks for your suggestions everyone! Next time, you need to be having a think about who you'd cast as the unluckiest cop in the precinct, Detective Bob O'Brien (first appearance: Lady Killer - 1958, Last appearance: Hark! - 2004). Drop us your thoughts at www.twitter.com/hark87podcast or www.facebook.com/hark87podcast or email us! See you soon for Sadie When She Died.

Fare thee well.

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast!

It's celebration time for the eight-seven, because this is the twenty-fifth book in the series and McBain has invited ALL of the detectives to come along. Experience a night and a day in and around the precinct, with tales of murder, criminal damage, missing persons and dutch ghosts. You know, the usual party stuff. 

In this episode we forgo our usual examination of the year it was published (it's coming in the bonus episode though) and focus on this atypical example of the series, which has a lot going on in it. We examine other places it was published - Stevo does like to find out what was in Argosy magazine - and whether it's worth recommending to a friend. 

It you enjoy the show, please leave a review or rating, or pop over to www.ko-fi.com/hark87podcast to make a digital donation to the running of the show. Also, please visit https://crimereads.com/the-magic-of-ed-mcbains-87th-precinct/ to read Paul's article about the early series. We'll be back next month for book 26 - Sadie When She Died. Fare thee well!

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Bonus Episode.

We follow up our examination of the twenty-fourth 87th Precinct book with our usual run-down of the original editions as released in the US and UK and then we turn our attention to the important business of 'Casting The Eight-Seven' - this time we look at the listener suggestions for who could play Lieutenant Peter Byrnes. For the next episode we'd like you to get thinking about who you'd cast as the star of Jigsaw - Detective Arthur Brown.

Remember to check our Instagram and other social feeds to find the images of book covers and the like to illustrate what we're talking about in these episodes. Fare Thee Well!

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast.

Well, we've done it everyone - we've made it to the Seventies and the first book of that decade is JIGSAW - Detective Arthur Brown is on a quest to locate all the pieces of a sliced-up photograph and ends up with a pile of dead bodies along the way, as well as the loss of his trousers.

A tricky tale to read with modern eyes in parts, thrill to the amazing sound of three polite, liberal men stumbling around issues of race, sexuality and sex as expressed by McBain through the author's voice and the voice of the characters. There are big social issues at play and it's interesting to see how effective the book is/isn't at handling them from today's perspective.

Along the way we explore the stuff going on in 1970, the adaptations of the story (Hello Lt. Columbo!) and find out about some fantastic real-world 'easter eggs' McBain slipped into the book. Hope you enjoy this - bonus episode soon! Please RATE and REVIEW and SHARE wherever and whenever you can. 

See you soon for "Hail, Hail The Gang's All Here". Fare thee well.

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct extra-special bonus side-pod podcast!

Inspired by a query about a particular magazine from the 1970s by the author Sarah Weinman on Twitter, I fell down a research rabbit-hole and have emerged clutching a whole bunch of information about the various attempts at 'spinning-off' from the 87th Precinct.

The early sixties saw the emergence of Ed McBain's Mystery Book and the 87th Precinct comic and the seventies brought us Ed McBain's 87th Precinct Mystery Magazine. Who brought these to life, how long did they last, who contributed? All questions are, sort of, answered (or at least speculated on) in this solo-podcast from series host, Paul Abbott.

If you like the show, please consider rating & reviewing it on your podcast app, and telling friends who you think would like the show. The usual format is a three-way discussion about each book in the series. All the back-episodes are still available, including bonus interviews and reviews of adaptations and other related McBain stuff. 

Hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed researching it. Fare thee well!

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct bonus episode.

We're back for our follow-up to the main podcast all about the gruesome story from 1969, Shotgun. As always, we kick off with a look at our editions, including a near lethal huffing for Stevo, and then reveal the original UK and US designs for the book and the mysterious Canadian Star Weekly release. Find these photos on our Instagram feed here.

Then we get stuck into the main business of the day - Casting the Fantasy 87th Precinct series - Phase One: WHEN? Paul reveals some of the thoughts of you, our listeners, and we discuss the technology and changes that might limit or affect when we'd set our version of an 87th Precinct TV series. Let us know what you think of our idea. Also, get your thinking lederhosen and start to ponder who you'd cast to play boss-of-the-detectives, Lieutenant Peter Byrnes.

See you soon for 'JIGSAW'. Fare thee well.  

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast

The cops of the Eight-Seven are often dealing with some pretty messy crimes and this book, Shotgun, has one of the messiest. Join Carella, Kling, Meyer and Hawes as they tackle two shootings and a stabbing, with plenty of hep-cat beat poetry thrown in along the way. There's also a nice reward for the series reader here, as book 19, He Who Hesitates, bleeds into the story.

Alongside our usual discussion of 1969 in music, film, TV and politics, we have an examination of the gun-permit laws in NYC now and then, learn the word 'Scofflaw' and get visited by possibly two ghosts. There's a fair bit of British Ephemera (TM) here - ask us if you want clarification on our TWITTER page, or email us at [email protected]

You can find our KO-FI page for one-off contributions at www.ko-fi.com/hark87podcast - thanks to everyone who's sent us something so far!

Join us in the bonus episode for our look at the original editions and our book covers, as well as part one of "Casting The 87th Precinct" where we explore the WHEN of the story settings. Fare thee well!