McKee of Centre Street

Helen Reilly

$26.95

Paperback

In stock
Ready to ship

QTY:

English

Penzler
29 March 2024

Literature: history & criticism; Fiction & Literature

When one of New York's favorite dancers is killed in a crowded high-tone speakeasy, everyone present becomes a suspect-and those that may have eluded questioning as well. It's up to Inspector McKee of the NYPD to sift through the witness statements, separate fact from fiction, and put together a picture of the crime as it happened in order to discover what's missing from the official narrative. And in the process, he'll uncover a story that leads back into the past, with blackmail and stolen emeralds lurking in the shadows.

As McKee's case comes into focus, a rich and confounding mystery plot is revealed, which will take all of the inspector's resources to solve. Along the way, the inner workings of the New York City police department in the 1930s is on full display, including the line-ups, the radio room, the morgue, and the fingerprinting office-technologies that were at the cutting edge of the era's fight against crime.

Reissued for the first time eighty years, McKee of Centre Street is one of the first police procedurals ever written by a woman. The novel's realistic New York setting and insightful view of police work was an instant hit with fans and its lead character went on to star in over thirty books.

By: Helen Reilly
Imprint: Penzler
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 203mm, Width: 135mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 291g
ISBN: 9781613164990
ISBN 10: 1613164998
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 29 March 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Helen Reilly (1891–1962) was a pioneering author of American Golden Age mysteries and considered to be one of the first women to write in the police procedural subgenre. She wrote over thirty novels starring Inspector Christopher McKee, of the fictitious Manhattan Homicide Squad. Most of her writing was published under her own name but she also published several novels under the pseudonym Kieran Abbey. A member of the Mystery Writers of America, she served as president of the organization in 1953.