Criminal Conversation

• McBain (born Salvatore Lombino, adopted “Evan Hunter” as his legal name) set the standard and became the greatest writer of the police procedural. The 87th Precinct series put the squad room front and center as the hero of gritty, police drama. 
• Enormous influence on television. His fingerprints are all over Hill Street Blues and the CSI series. The 87th Precinct ran as a series in 1961; films of The Blackbird Jungle, Fuzz and others hit the big screen over the years. McBain wrote the screenplays for Strangers When We Meet and Hitchcock’s The Birds. 
• Invented the police phrase 24/24. His conceit--the 24 hours before a crime and the 24 hours after a crime are the most important—has become a central concept of crime writing and television, and actual policing. 
• Honored with the most prestigious lifetime achievement awards in mystery writing. Evan Hunter was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1986; in 1998 he was the first American writer to receive the Diamond Dagger from the British Crime Writers Association. 

An assistant district attorney launches a one-man crusade against the Mafia in this legal thriller from the bestselling author of the 87th Precinct series.
 
The call comes from Narcotics, Manhattan South. A low-level drug dealer just got caught in a buy-bust, and he’s ready to spill his guts. It wouldn’t be a priority—especially not four days before Christmas—but the thug just mentioned the Mafia, and that means all hands on deck. It’s just what Michael Welles has been waiting for. An assistant district attorney with a burning hatred of organized crime, he’ll do anything for a crack at the mob. He’s about to get a chance to bring down the whole clan—but his loved ones’ lives are at stake.
 
The dealer they arrested is an unlucky gambler whose debts put him smack in the middle of two of New York’s most powerful crime families. Following the man’s lead, Michael sets up a massive eavesdropping operation intended to trap the ruthless new leader of the local mob—but what he hears on the other end of the wiretap will make him doubt everything he knows about his family, his wife, and himself.
 
From the legendary Ed McBain, who “virtually invented the American police procedural with his gritty 87th Precinct series,”  Criminal Conversation is as realistic as it gets (The New York Times).