Empty Hours, The

Three different stories, one prolific author.

She was young and wealthy…and now she’s dead. With only a name and a pile of cancelled checks to go on, Detective Steve Carella has his work cut out for him in finding her killer. But he’s in for a shocking surprise when the checks lead to more than just murder in “The Empty Hours”.

In “J,” Passover is supposed to be a day of celebration. This year, however, it is a day of murder when the rabbi is found stabbed to death, and the only evidence is a “J” painted on the synagogue’s wall. A local anti-Semite is assumed to be the perpetrator, but if Detective Carella thinks the case is going to be that easy he’s got another thing coming.

A ski vacation with a beautiful blonde is just what the doctor ordered for Detective Cotton Hawes in “Storm”…until he stumbles upon the body of a young woman beneath the crystalline snow. And with the local cops bungling the investigation, Hawes is on the clock to find a mountainside killer before he strikes again.

The Empty Hours is another spine-tingling addition to the 87th Precinct series, a riveting collection of which the New York Times comments, “Ed McBain owns this turf.”