Detective Bert Kling has had some rough luck with women. First his fiancée Cindy Townsend was gunned down in an infamous bookstore shooting. Then there was Cindy Forrest, who informed him one day that she was in love with a doctor at work—and was gone. Now he’s finally hit the jackpot. Kling just married the beautiful model Augusta Blair, and they are about to enjoy the first night of their marriage together…until bad luck catches him again.

When Kling gets out of the shower, Augusta is gone, leaving behind one shoe—and cotton soaked in chloroform. Even harder than calling Detective Steve Carella with the news is standing on the sidelines while the rest of the men do all the work. But he’ll have to—or he’ll never see her alive again.

A spine-tingling race against time as the detectives of the 87th do what they do best, So Long as You Both Shall Live is an extraordinary addition to the series, an Ed McBain masterpiece that marries taut police procedure with the personal stakes of a man who stands to lose everything—again.