“I will kill the Lady tonight at 8. What can you do about it?”

This is the message on a pasted-up letter handed to Desk Sergeant Dave Murchison at 8:00 a.m. The detectives at the 87th Precinct have gotten these types of threats before, but there’s something different about this one. Something ominous. Problem is, the city contains millions of women—finding the right one in twelve hours is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Detectives Steve Carella and Cotton Hawes go down the list of likely suspects but in a city this big, it's a best-guess scenario. And with the clock ticking and no other leads, guessing is the only card they have to play. All they need is one break—or they won’t get a second chance.

A classic race-against-time thriller with relentless pacing and top-notch plotting, Lady Killer is a master class in detective fiction and a riveting addition to Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series.