87th Precinct, Isola

 "The city in these pages is imaginary. The people, the places are all fictitious. Only the police routine is based on established investigatory technique."

 Amateurs of crime fiction identified this quote easily: it is the disclaimer placed before the start of every novel from Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series. I first discovered them translated in French, before switching to original English. Heat was the last one I read translated, suring the summer of 2006. Fittingly enough, I read it all during a heatwave, just like in the book. Before I go any further, I recommend it for a summer read, especially when it's hot outside. I still have my copy, this copy. And you can find on it a glaring mistake: the promotional paper slip says: "N.Y.P.D 87e District". I mean... what? It says in the book that the unnamed city is imaginary. Yes, it is a thinly disguised New York, Isola being Manhattan, but it's sitll not New York. I don't want to be pedantic, but surely every fan of the series worth his salt knows that by now.