87th Precinct - Characters

Characters

The series focuses on the detectives of the 87th Precinct, and although different detectives will "star" in different novels, most 87th novels feature a significant, if not a starring role for Detective 2nd Grade Stephen Louis "Steve" Carella. Carella's fellow precinct detectives include Arthur Brown, Eileen Burke, Roger Havilland, Cotton Hawes, Bert Kling, Meyer Meyer, Andy Parker, Bob O'Brien, Hal Willis, Alex Delgado, and Richard Genero. (During investigations Carella is most often partnered with Meyer, Hawes, or Kling.) In the first novel in the series, Carella is partnered with a detective called Bush. Bush's wife has hired someone to murder Bush, as well as two other officers who are not mentioned in the other novels. The detective squad commander is Lt. Peter Byrnes. Also seen frequently, and lending a certain continuity to the series, are the minor characters Alf Miscolo (the clerk in charge of records and coffee) and desk sergeant Dave Murchison, as well as a large cast of regulars who do not work at the 87th, including Steve's deaf-mute wife Theodora "Teddy" Carella; the buffoonish and arrogant homicide detectives Monoghan and Monroe, who always appear together; the crime lab supervisor Sam Grossman; Medical Examiner Paul Blaney (and later his twin brother Carl) from the Coroner's Office; police informants Danny Gimp and Fats Donner; Rolly Chabrier and Nellie Brand from the District Attorney's office; and Detective Ollie Weeks (a.k.a. "Fat Ollie"), a central character in several 87th Precinct novels even though he is in fact on the squad of the neighboring 88th Precinct.

Another recurring character was the Deaf Man, a Professor Moriarty-like criminal mastermind who appeared in six novels, enjoyed plotting elaborate crimes to bedevil the men of the 87th, but by miscalculations on his part, and the blind luck of the detectives, was foiled.

Hunter's final book Learning To Kill, was published in July 2006 under his Ed McBain pseudonym. It is a volume of short stories written between 1952 and 1957, including some that inspired and became 87th Precinct mysteries.