Cop Hater (87th Precinct Mysteries) (1956)

The first 87th Precinct novel turns the killing of police officers into an emergency for their coworkers. McBain gives Steve Carella a recognisable squadroom around him, with the work moving through interviews, street enquiries and the pressure of being a possible target. Its compressed pace makes a useful entry to the precinct tradition. This is a mid-century fictional police world, with its period voice and assumptions, rather than a guide to present-day practice. McBain also wrote as Evan Hunter.