V As In Victim

Originally published in 1945, V as in Victim was the first crime novel to feature ordinary cops as the main characters, launching the subgenre known as “police procedurals” and earning Lawrence Treat an important place in the history of mysteries. “So Mitch knew in general why he was a cop. ...But Jub Freeman was different, and the difference bothered Mitch.” New York City Police Detective Mitch Taylor doesn’t love being a cop, but it’s a decent, respectable job—except for the paperwork. He files his cases as “investigations,” not crimes, so that failure to solve them won’t jeopardize his promotion. Lab tech Jub Freeman never wanted to work for the police, but landing in the lab suited him well. When they’re called to the scene of a hit and run accident, Mitch is annoyed with the witnesses. None noted the license plate number of the car, but one insists that she heard a woman scream just before the accident. Interviewing the woman in her apartment overlooking the accident, Mitch and