One of the reasons for the 87th Precinct series' long-running success is the ensemble of characters McBain has assembled and developed through the years. Led by Steve Carella the books feature the on-going lives of several main and secondary figures who weave in and out of the stories. We follow Steve's career as a police officer as well as his personal life. He meets Teddy, a deaf mute, with whom he falls in love and later marries and has two children.

One of the novels even involves Teddy in a case where she is placed in great danger and is almost killed. Although their lives together are not always central to the story line, the relationship between Steve and Teddy does much to leaven the violence and mayhem of the crime narratives. As a policeman Carella faces the usual bureaucratic frustrations encountered by anyone working inside a large...