The main storyline is OK — a heist plot with a photo cut into pieces like a jigsaw puzzle — but I really didn’t like this book. A gratuitous rape scene is included as a throwaway element of background and there is some stereotyping of gay people, as well as stereotypes of Black people. The latter stereotypes are used against the stereotypers, but it’s really uncomfortable to read. I wasn’t planning to keep this after reading it, but the spine was literally ripping in half as I read, so I just recycled it. ( )

Arthur Brown, as squeal, catches a double murder: one shot dead, one stabbed in the carotid artery. He finds a piece of a photo clutched in one of the dead man's hands. Then, an insurance investigator shows up to tie the deaths and photo to a six year-old bank robbery, where the loot ($750,000) was never found. Brown goes undercover to ferret out the remaining seven pieces. Taut police thriller, with double dealing galore. ( )

Another good one. I believe this is the first time Det. Brown has been the lead alongside Carella and McBain is reliably good on the racial stuff. Not quite as progressive about homosexuals, but this was written around 1970 so we need to give him a bit more time to catch up. ( )

A torn photograph in an apparently simple homicide leads to a solution regarding a 10-year-old bank robbery as well. Steve Carera is the primary character in this 87th Precinct story. ( )

"Jigsaw" finds the boys trying to solve a 6 year old robbery. A bank was held up, and $750,000 was stolen and never collected. All four thieves died in a car wreck almost immediately after leaving the scene of the crime, but the loot wasn't in the car, meaning they dumped it somewhere for later pickup. An insurance investigator thinks he knows where the drop off point was, but he needs the 87th's help. Apparently the criminals took a picture of the spot, and cut the picture up into 8 pieces, and distributed it among themselves, giving their pieces to family or friends for safekeeping. The insurance investigator would like the boys to help him collect the pieces and find the money. Unfortunately, people in possession of said pieces are mysteriously dying. ( )