Hunter, Evan

(US, 1926– )

Since the publication of Blackboard Jungle (1954) Evan Hunter (who also writes as Ed McBain) has written over eighty works of fiction under several names and has won awards in the United States and Britain. Privileged Conversation (1996) depicts a heady sexual affair leading to inescapable tragedy. As Ed McBain he is renowned for his 87th precinct series, centred on a team of detectives, which established the police procedural genre and influenced developments in writing, film, and television. The routine details of the job, down to the actual reproduction of booking forms and memos in the novels, are interwoven with interaction between the cops, the tension and the humour, and with their personal and domestic lives. Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man (1973) pits the team against their old adversary, the Deaf Man, when they are already dealing with a series of cat burglaries, a shooting, and a horrific crucifixion. McBain also writes the Matthew Hope series which take their titles from fairy-tales.

John Harvey, Tony Hillerman.

See CRIME  CS