"Clifford thanks you, Madam", he said, bowing from the waist. Then the mugger vanished into the night, leaving behind his battered, terrified female victim. He has struck 14 times so far and the cops of the 87th Precinct want it to stop now. Then a beautiful young woman is found dead and the case of Clifford turns even uglier.

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."