This mugger is special.
He preys on women, waiting in the darkness...then comes from behind,
attacks them, and snatches their purses. He tells them not to scream and
as they're on the ground, reeling with pain and fear, he bows and
nonchalantly says, "Clifford thanks you, madam." But when he puts one
victim in the hospital and the next in the morgue, the detectives of the
87th Precinct are not amused and will stop at nothing to bring him to
justice.
Dashing young patrolman Bert Kling is always there to help a friend. And
when a friend's sister-in-law is the mugger's murder victim, Bert's
personal reasons to find the maniacal killer soon become a burning
obsession...and it could easily get him killed.
The second book in the 87th Precinct series, The Mugger is an Ed
McBain classic, a nuanced portrayal of justice and vengeance hailed by
the Daily Mirror as "a masterpiece of crime writing...and there's
nobody who does it better."