Order of Book Series
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87th Precinct Books in Order

87th Precinct by Ed McBain contains 55 books, published between 1956 and 2005. The first book is Cop Hater (1956) and the newest is Fiddlers (2005). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
55
Published
1956–2005
Confirmed
55 of 55 titles
Pages on record
10,310 in 46 of 55 books
Reading time
172–258 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 10,310 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 46 of 55 titles with a page count on record.

See all 55 books in order Printable 87th Precinct checklist

87th Precinct is Ed McBain's police procedural series, written under a pen name by Evan Hunter and following the detectives of a single squad room through homicides, robberies, domestic cases and vice work. Steve Carella is the central detective and Isola the invented city the precinct sits in. Cop Hater (1956) opens the run, with The Mugger and The Pusher following the same year. Fifty-five books make up the series, which closes with Fiddlers in 2005, at a median of 224 pages.

How many 87th Precinct books are there?

87th Precinct has 55 books, released between 1956 and 2005.

87th Precinct Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 55 87th Precinct books in the order they were released, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Cop Hater by Ed McBain, book 1 of the 87th Precinct series (1956)
  2. Cover of The Mugger by Ed McBain, book 2 of the 87th Precinct series (1956)
  3. Cover of The Pusher by Ed McBain, book 3 of the 87th Precinct series (1956)
  4. Cover of The Con Man by Ed McBain, book 4 of the 87th Precinct series (1957)
  5. Cover of Killer's Choice by Ed McBain, book 5 of the 87th Precinct series (1957)
  6. Cover of Lady Killer by Ed McBain, book 6 of the 87th Precinct series (1958)
  7. Cover of Killer's Payoff by Ed McBain, book 8 of the 87th Precinct series (1958)
  8. Cover of King's Ransom by Ed McBain, book 9 of the 87th Precinct series (1959)
  9. Cover of 'Til Death by Ed McBain, book 10 of the 87th Precinct series (1959)
  10. Cover of Give the Boys a Great Big Hand by Ed McBain, book 11 of the 87th Precinct series (1960)
  11. Cover of The Heckler by Ed McBain, book 12 of the 87th Precinct series (1960)
  12. Cover of See Them Die by Ed McBain, book 13 of the 87th Precinct series (1960)
  13. Cover of Lady, Lady, I Did It! by Ed McBain, book 14 of the 87th Precinct series (1961)
  14. Cover of The Empty Hours by Ed McBain, book 15 of the 87th Precinct series (1962)
  15. Cover of Like Love by Ed McBain, book 16 of the 87th Precinct series (1962)
  16. Cover of Ten Plus One by Ed McBain, book 17 of the 87th Precinct series (1963)
  17. Cover of Doll by Ed McBain, book 20 of the 87th Precinct series (1965)
  18. Cover of Eighty Million Eyes by Ed McBain, book 21 of the 87th Precinct series (1966)
  19. Cover of Fuzz by Ed McBain, book 22 of the 87th Precinct series (1968)
  20. Cover of Shotgun by Ed McBain, book 23 of the 87th Precinct series (1968)
  21. Cover of Jigsaw by Ed McBain, book 24 of the 87th Precinct series (1970)
  22. Cover of Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here! by Ed McBain, book 25 of the 87th Precinct series (1971)
  23. Cover of Sadie When She Died by Ed McBain, book 26 of the 87th Precinct series (1972)
  24. Cover of Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man by Ed McBain, book 27 of the 87th Precinct series (1973)
  1. 1
    Cop Hater1956 · confirmed 3/4
    1956–
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  2. 2
    The Mugger1956 · 181 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1956181
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  3. 3
    The Pusher1956 · 256 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1956256
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  4. 4
    The Con Man1957 · 160 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1957160
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  5. 5
    Killer's Choice1957 · 224 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1957224
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  6. 6
    Lady Killer1958 · 10 pages · confirmed 3/4
    195810
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  7. 7
    Killer's Wedge1958 · confirmed 3/4
    1958–
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  8. 8
    Killer's Payoff1958 · 272 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1958272
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  9. 9
    King's Ransom1959 · 1 pages · confirmed 3/4
    19591
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  10. 10
    'Til Death1959 · 160 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1959160
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  11. 11
    Give the Boys a Great Big Hand1960 · 240 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1960240
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  12. 12
    The Heckler1960 · 254 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1960254
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  13. 13
    See Them Die1960 · 208 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1960208
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  14. 14
    Lady, Lady, I Did It!1961 · 1 pages · confirmed 3/4
    19611
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  15. 15
    The Empty Hours1962 · 224 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1962224
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  16. 16
    Like Love1962 · 176 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1962176
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  17. 17
    Ten Plus One1963 · 1 pages · confirmed 3/4
    19631
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  18. 18
    Ax / Axe1963 · 1 pages · confirmed 3/4
    19631
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  19. 19
    He Who Hesitates1965 · 174 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1965174
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  20. 20
    Doll1965 · 208 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1965208
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  21. 21
    Eighty Million Eyes1966 · 208 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1966208
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  22. 22
    Fuzz1968 · 288 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1968288
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  23. 23
    Shotgun1968 · 208 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1968208
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  24. 24
    Jigsaw1970 · 193 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1970193
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  25. 25
    Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here!1971 · 224 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1971224
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  26. 26
    Sadie When She Died1972 · 192 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1972192
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  27. 27
    Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man1973 · 256 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1973256
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  28. 28
    Hail to the Chief1973 · 183 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1973183
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  29. 29
    Bread1974 · 210 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1974210
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  30. 30
    Blood Relatives1975 · 200 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1975200
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87th Precinct Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the 87th Precinct books run from Cop Hater (1956) to Fiddlers (2005), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for 87th Precinct in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read 87th Precinct books in order?

You should read the 87th Precinct books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each 87th Precinct book also stands alone.

Where to start with 87th Precinct

Start with Cop Hater (1956), the earliest published title.

What is the newest 87th Precinct book?

Fiddlers (2005) is the newest 87th Precinct book released so far.

Is there a new 87th Precinct book coming?

No next 87th Precinct book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

87th Precinct at a glance

No recent titles
The newest 87th Precinct title on record dates from 2005, 21 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
87th Precinct books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
10,310 pages across the 46 of 55 books with a recorded length, a median of 224 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most 87th Precinct books, 13 of 55, were published in the 1960s.
Corroboration
3 of the 55 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.

What the 87th Precinct books are about

53 of the 55 87th Precinct books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: police is tagged on 46 of 53. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

More books by Ed McBain

The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.

Other series by Ed McBain

The series linked below has its own reading-order page.