Tricks is has so many threads it's amazing that it never once gets tangled up in itself.
As usual, the title has multiple meanings. There's the murder of a magician who has been cut up and disposed of about the city, the trick-or-treaters who are robbing stores and there are the tricks of the sex workers who hang round in a bar where two of their colleagues have recently been murdered. There are some elements of sleight of hand to go along with it and many aspects of the characters and plot are not what they seem (Hawes is pulling the wool over the eyes of his cop partner and Parker is somehow making himself popular as he pursues an attractive woman from a previous case).
Though the dead magician story feels like the main player, it's outdone by the police casualties in the robbery case, which is further trumped by Annie and Eileen who are reunited in the undercover world of prostitution as they try to get their man (this has enough to fill a novel all by itself).
Tricks is an excellent example of the multiple case procedural. With so many plates spinning at once and so many characters involved, it's amazing that McBain keeps them all in the air with apparent ease. To me, it's a masterclass of the genre, with depth, pacing, intrigue, humour, tension and satisfaction perfectly balanced. A wonderful piece of fiction.
