**Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast!** Careful with that ax(e), Eugene! Let's take a trip in the time-travelling toolshed back to 1964 and the 18th novel in the 87th Precinct police-procedural series by Ed McBain. The clear winner of the shortest-title-in-the-series competition - "Ax" - is a gruesome whodunnit, leading the cops of the Eight-Seven down blind-alleys and into dark-basements as they attempt to find out why poor old George Lasser ended up eating a faceful of chopper. We open this episode with a little recap over what the essence of this book series is, as a recap and an initiation for new readers and listeners, before tackling our usual round of "What happened in this year?" in advance of our discussion, in an almost spoiler-free fashion, of the book. There's plenty of giggling at craps as well. This week we feature a promo for our friends at [Loaded Literature Podcast](http://loadedliteraturepodcast.com/) - check them out, and remember to use #lithappens on social media to find more literature and books podcasts. A rating or review on iTunes is super-appreciated and super-useful for helping us reach new listeners or if you wish to contribute another way, we're rattling our digital donations cup over at [Ko-fi.com](fi.com/harkpodcast">http://ko-fi.com/harkpodcast). Join us soon for our bonus episode and then we're onto book 19 which is (wait for it...) "He Who Hesitates". Fare Thee Well!