A candidate for mayor is shot and killed, and Detective Ollie Weeks is on the case! Detectives Carella and Kling are drawn into it as well, a bit unwillingly, as both can’t stand Fat Ollie. Few can.
“Ollie was an equal opportunity bigot. He felt anyone who didn’t look or sound the way he himself did deserved a swift kick in the ass.” And he looked very fat, and sounded like W.C. Fields (or Al Pacino, depending on who’s listening) from time to time. But he's a good detective, and he sets about solving the murder as only he can. And he also is looking for the person who stole the book he wrote, which judging by the excerpts printed within, may have been a blessing to all of us!
A fun read, even with all of the awful beliefs of Ollie! ( )

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Fat Ollie Weeks has grown and grown (no pun intended) as a character over the last few 87th Precinct books, so it feels completely appropriate that he pretty much gets a book of his own here. As you might expect, given Weeks’ personality, the emphasis in this novel is more on humour than on mystery. The result is definitely one of the lighter entries in the series, and a very enjoyable read as a result.
There are three stories woven together here: the shooting of a politician, a drug deal going bad, and a theft from Ollie’s car. It’s that last part that gives the book its name, the stolen item being the manuscript of a novel Ollie has written. That book (which is very short), exists within this one, and is an absolute hoot. His prose style is unique to say the least, but despite being terrible, McBain manages to make it very readable. The book is a written in the style of a police report about a stash of hidden diamonds. The thief, not recognising it as a work of fiction, tries to decipher the clues within to locate the jewels, which leads to some very amusing mix ups.
As you’d expect, being the focus of the book, Ollie develops further in its pages, from the horrific bigot he started out as, to someone a bit more sympathetic. A budding romance with a Latina cop helps with this, and it’s interesting to see how McBain manages to make such an awful character into something of a hero.
So the book has humour and colour to spare, but the mysteries are a little lacking. The one in Ollie’s book is deeply silly and the big man’s search for his missing manuscript is entertaining but lacking in tension. Even the main plot line, about the political assassination ends up being somewhat sub-par. It’s very easy to forgive that though, when the rest of the book is so much fun. It’s often laugh out loud funny and Ollie never been more entertaining. ( )

politician shot by his wife

A politician in an empty theater, prepping for a rally. Detective Fat Ollie Weeks gets the squeal, and while investigating in his usual offensive way, his finally completed manuscript is stolen from his car. Ollie recruits Steve Carella and Bert Kling to help in his investigation of the murder while he also tries to find his only copy of the manuscript. His book entitled "Report to the Commissioner" about a female cop locked in a basement with cache of blood diamonds is thought to be real by the brain-dead thief, and the thief and detectives all converge on a major drug bust in a basement. One highlight is the return of red-headed detective, Eileen Burke, who joins the 87th Precinct. ( )

Detective/First Grade Oliver Wendell Weeks - nicknamed Fat Ollie - has written a book that gets stolen out of his car while he's investigating a murder. As he searches for the murderer and the thief, the culprits all seem to intersect in very strange ways. Full of Ed McBain's cop humor, this story is very entertaining as it follows Detective Weeks from eating establishment to eating establishment. ( )