EIGHT BLACK HORSES (1985) ***
by Ed McBain
This paperback edition published by Pan Books, 1987, 267pp
First published in 1985
© Hui Corporation, 1985
ISBN: 978-0-3302-9590-1
Blurb: It all got terribly confusing when the Deaf Man put in an appearance and the criminal mastermind is making his presence known by the dead bodies that are turning up around Isola. Then there are the notes – with cryptic patterns including eight black horses dancing across a page – that look like they mean nothing. But Detectives Kling, Carella, and Meyer know that with the Deaf Man, the seemingly meaningless always means something. Something bad. And as late fall hurtles toward Christmas, the Deaf Man is counting down the days, luring the cops of the 87th Precinct with a series of taunting clues – all leading toward a horrifying act of revenge orchestrated by a psychopathic killer.
Comment: The 38th of Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct novels sees the return, for his fourth appearance, of the squad’s nemesis, the Deaf Man. The book starts strongly with the discovery of a naked female body in the park and the mystery surrounding it. The cliffhanger of photographs of eight black horses being received by the 87th’s detective squad at the end of Lightning is followed up with further messages being sent in the form of photos of police equipment in differing numerical numbers seemingly geared around a perverse re-imagining of the twelve days of Christmas. The Deaf Man has two schemes – the main one being a planned heist of a department store unrelated to the messages he is sending. Secondly, he is providing clues through his dispatches for the detectives to figure out his intentions, which they struggle to come to grips with. The plot elements come together as we watch the Deaf Man’s schemes unfold, keeping us a step ahead of the detectives. Once again the Deaf Man’s primary objective comes undone through misfortune, leaving his secondary plan as a kind of revenge. The swing of the book toward this is where the book becomes unstuck as the tension does not really build. Instead, we become frustrated at the dim-witted detectives who fail to get to grips with the meaning of the Deaf Man’s pretty transparent messages. Credibility drops sharply as a result, and the humour seems at odds with the effects of the Deaf Man’s murderous spree. It is rare for McBain to misjudge the tone of his books as he generally gets the balance spot on between humourous dialogue and situations and the drama of the cases. Here, the result is a mixed bag.
