Hark! The 87th Precinct Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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

In fact, it's the last ever bonus episode. And everything went fine, yessir, no technical hitches or anything (*nervously runs finger around collar, eyes darting about the room*). 

We explore as always the original UK and US covers of the books and those of our own editions and some international versions before getting into the films, television and music from the year of release - in this case, 2005. Paul, Morgan and Stevo have made their picks from the year as well. Sort of.

See you soon for a concluding episode looking back at our scores and reflecting on the series - thanks for sticking with us.

Fare thee well!

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast. In fact, it's the last (except our bonus episode) of the main series of this podcast as we arrive at the final book in the saga of the boys of Grover Avenue. It's Fiddlers. The corpses are piling up and the squad have to figure out what links the killings, whilst navigating their own matters of love, loss and family.

Does McBain leave us on a high? Find out within as we investigate not only the book itself, but the other things released by McBain/Hunter during the final year of his life and after that. 

Thank you so much for sticking with us and keeping us motivated to do this project. We truly appreciate it. So, until the bonus episode arrives, we'll merely say...

Fare Thee Well!

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

Having slogged through the grim world of 2001's terrorism, money laundering and drugs in the 51st book of the series, we retire to our safe space of the bonus episode to take a look at the book cover designs and then our usual run down of the charts, movies and television of the period.

What were your favourite things of 2001? Let us know on the usual social media places.

Until next time - Fat Ollie's Book - we will say simply,

Fare Thee Well.

**Hark! It's the 87th Precinct Podcast!** The year is 1961. 87th Precinct fans have had to wait an entire year since their last fix and they're desperate for another story - McBain finally provides them with the 14th novel in the series, the brutal and heartbreaking Lady, Lady, I Did It! Join us for our usual mix of book-review and contextual-chatter (sorry, there's quite a bit of preamble this time!), as we discover all about what was going on around the world in music, TV and politics. Listen whilst Paul relates some communication from Hunter's literary agent Jane Gelfman (thanks, Jane!) and try not to get fed up with us as we mention the Carry On... films yet again. Thanks for listening and please, as always, share on social media, rate and review in your podcast apps and feel free to send us messages on FB, Twitter, Insta or email (hark87podcast@gmail.com). Join us soon for a bonus episode and then get reading the collection of novellas, The Empty Hours (1962). Fare thee well!

**Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast Bonus Episode** I mean, we do talk a bit about McBain in this rather silly appendix to our main podcast. Stevo, of course, provides us with the results of his book-huffing and we delve deep into the sorts of books you could get from the discount mail-order shops advertising in the NYT in 1962. We also, as usual, retread some "Carry On..." ground and hark back to the days of the kids TV magazine show "How?", just in case you've not go enough UK emphera inside your heads. With a nod to the podcast, The Five By, we speculate on how you could turn the world of the 87th Precinct into a board game. Oh, and Melvyn Bragg pops by to tell us some more about 'In Our Time'. See you soon for "Lady, Lady I Did It!". Please like, rate, review and share wherever you can, ta!

**Hark! It's the 87th Precinct Podcast!** We're coming to the end of 1960 when Ed McBain releases the thirteenth 87th Precinct novel, See Them Die. A tale of gangs, sieges, unrequited love, heat, tear gas and a big fat man. This is West Side Story as you've never experienced it before. On our travel to Isola's very own Spanish Harlem, we've discuss a whole load of stuff, including a pertinent listener question about the writing and release order of the books, the Ed McBain Mystery Book magazine series, Manhunt and the Puerto Rican diaspora. Stevo is possessed by the ghost of gravel-voiced DJ Tommy Vance, due to his cough, and we also take our usual look at what was going on in music, TV and film of the time as well. Please retweet, share, review, 'like' - everything like that helps us to reach more listeners and keep bringing all our McBain fan-family together. We'll be back soon with the bonus episode and after that - 1961's "Lady, Lady I Did It". Bye!

**Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast Side-Pod Bonus Episode! (Phew!)** Hop once more onto the train that left from the station called "King's Ransom - 1959", stopped off at "High and Low - 1963" and is now on the way to "Inkaar - 1977" and then join us in our comfy, sunken living-room seating as Paul and his guest Lorraine (https://twitter.com/lolmidge and https://twitter.com/lolmidgefilms) discuss the late Seventies Bollywood movie Inkaar. Inkaar was an adaptation of Kurosawa's film, yet is very different and also has some other aspects of McBain's book included. In this bonus-to-a-side-pod episode we discuss what makes a Bollywood film a Bollywood film, wonder about the global penetration of Ind Coope's "Double Diamond" beer and marvel at the strange policing decisions of Inspector Gill (the 'Carella' character). We'll be back to the main podcast soon with 1960's "See Them Die" - get practicing your spanish, for we shall meet again in the barrio!

**Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast Sidepod!** Come with us now back to 1963, to Yokohama in Japan, to the glossy Highs of Mr.Gondo's hilltop villa and the seedy Lows of Mr.Takeuchi's shack in the slums. Join us as we follow Chief Detective's Tokura and "Bos'n" Taguchi on the trail of what appears to be a simple kidnapping case that turns into something much more dramatic. Based on McBain's 1959 novel, King's Ransom, Akira Kurosawa's film Tengoku to Jigoku (Heaven or Hell, but widely known as High and Low) is a fantastic feature which not only provides plenty for the fan of Police Procedural stories to enjoy, but also presents one of the most unique and effective morality tales ever put on screen. Joining the regular crew for this review is Stef Bradley, cinema fan, illustrator and good pal, to put us to shame with her effective note-taking and ability to not try to crowbar Carry On... film references into everything. Find Stef on Twitter at https://twitter.com/todayzine and online at http://todayzine.bigcartel.com/ - Stef also read King's Ransom in advance of this and gives her thoughts and awards an Honorary Police Shield ranking to the book! Along the way we meet a crackers incinerator operator, discuss the many different types of Highs and Lows and revel in the majesty of The Dirty Bare-Chested Police Squad. Hope you enjoy it! Please keep sharing, rating and reviewing wherever you get your podcasts. See you soon for McBain's "See Them Die".

**Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast Bonus Episode** A very silly podcast. Join us for our post-main-podcast descent into madness as we start out proper (the artwork of Tony Palladino, Hitchcock and the nature of The Deaf Man, Teddy Carella and good vs evil), before speculating on what the cover of Stevo's 1979 Penguin edition actually shows. From thereon in, we hear about the Three 'Crimey' Things Paul got up to that day and consider P J Hammond's adventure series Sapphire and Steel in a whole new (Cornish) light. Get your book-eyes pointed at McBain's "See Them Die" in time for the next main podcast, or Kurosawa's High and Low in the meantime. As always, a rating or review anywhere (everywhere?) is appreciated - especially if you're listening on Apple Podcasts.

**Hark! It's the 87th Precinct Podcast** The year is 1960 and the second of McBain's 87th Precinct books was The Heckler - a tale of threatening phone-calls, actual murders and some bombs along the way. Marvel at the machiavellian machinations of the 87th Precinct's nemesis-to-be and witness the inside of Detective Steve Carella's unconscious mind. Along the way we discuss the real-life women who changed the world Ed McBain wrote about - Detective Mary Fitzgerald and crime-fiction critic Marilyn Stasio and we offer some critique of his rather chest-obsessed prose in this novel. K.E.N.N.E.T.H. comes out of winter retirement to calculate the scores and we ponder what it would be like to have to try and apprehend a criminal whilst wearing 85 police shields on your uniform. Join us soon for the bonus episode and then our look at Kurosawa's High & Low. The next book in the sequence is "See Them Die" - get your reading eyes washed and ready to go! Thanks for listening - remember a rating, share or review would be greatly appreciated. www.hark87podcast.blogspot.co.uk for the full book list and further information.