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Rating: 
Summary: A few interesting characters, but weak plot (plots).
Review: I sometimes enjoyed this book. Ed McBain creates some interesting characters and settings: plots are weak, but who reads McBain for his plots. It would be beating a dead horse to say how unreal, how utterly implausible is the actual murderer of the priest. Nice to see Carrella throw some barbs at religion (sarcasm by me) McBain writes books that can be speed read or skimmed. Actually, one positive: EM does try to get some "thinking" into some of the characters. By the way a black would never buy dope from a white guy in a white guy's neigborhood--neutral ground at the minimum. Glad a certain person died at the end: gave the book a tinge of grit. I feel strongly that the sweetest town in Nebraska would have more interesting problems and crimes than in EM's N.Y. Satanic leader was well-developed, as a character, and Satanic "altar" was a nice touch.
Rating: 
Summary: One of McBain's best
Review: There is one master of the police drama who writes with more gritty reality than any other author, and that is Ed McBain. And Vespers is one of the best of the bunch. The detectives of the 87th Precinct are faced with the brutal murder of a young priest from a poor, inner-city parish. There are very few clues, but through hard work and perseverance, they're able to assemble a short list of suspects. Each suspect has their own sub-plot, and they include a drug dealer and his supplier, a volatile, violent parishioner, a congregation of Satanic worshippers and a mysterious woman who was having an affair with the victim. Eventually, detectives Hawes and Carella are able to piece together the mystery and the ending came as a complete surprise! I wasn't even close to guessing the identity of the murderer. So if you're looking for a mystery with a little more meat and a little less fluff, McBain is your man. His novels definitely provide a more realistic look at police-work in a big city than many other authors.
Rating:
Summary: A Priest is murdered by.........?
Review: Vespers is another one of Ed Mcbain's 87th precint novel.It keeps you attached to the book and take you together with the detectives solving the murder.Carella is the main person trying to solve the murder mystery while Hugh,his partner falls in love with Christine Lund,once the priest's secretary.Willis gets to raid a drug house and loses his girlfriend in this novel. The scandalising topic of this novel is the existance of the church of the bornless one where people worship The Devil. The mystery of the priest's murder remains a mystery until the end because it is very difficult to guess who killed the priest. There is also a mention of the black and white tensions and an incident of a black guy being beaten by baseball bats by some Italian guys. This novel is very interesting to read but can be a bit energy consuming.I have many times fallen fast asleep while reading this book but I managed to finish up the book at last and it was quite suprising to know the reason the priest was killed and who killed him.I think the person who killed him was right in doing so because the priest was commiting adultry. This novel is worth reading and I hope whoever reads this review would try to read the novel.
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