Attorney Matthew Hope lies in a coma after catching two bullets to the chest outside a Calusa, Florida, bar. That he was anywhere near the seedy establishment is a bit of irony; he had recently taken a break from the criminal side of his practice after his last case made him question his instincts as a defender.
Now itโs up to Hopeโs friends and associatesโPI pals Warren Chambers and Toots Kiley, law partner Frank Summerville, police detective Morris Bloom, and girlfriend Patricia Demmingโto retrace the attorneyโs steps and piece together just who wants him dead. The puzzling and sinister trail leads to a big Florida land deal, a kinky circus troupe, and a seductive womanโno taller than a yardstickโwhoโs been brutally killed. The answer to the riddle lies with Hope, who, even in unconsciousness, replays the events leading up to the shooting. But can he wake up in time to name the killer before someone puts him to sleep for good?
From master of suspense Ed McBain comes a Matthew Hope series classic that opens with a bangโor two.
Amazon.com Review
Matthew Hope has been mysteriously shot--by whom? As he lies in a hospital bed in a near-coma, his friends try to discover why his professional involvement with a small circus had murderous results. To do this they must traverse a web of sinister acrobats, kinky animal trainers, and beautiful businesswomen--one of whom is a ruthless killer.
From Publishers Weekly
After 40 years and more than 100 books, McBain (aka Evan Hunter) continues to amaze and entertain. In this 11th Matthew Hope novel (Mary, Mary), the hero spends most of his time in a semi-coma after being shot outside a bar on the seedy side of Calusa, Fla., despite his vow to avoid the criminal side of his law practice. Meanwhile, Hope's PI pals Warren Chambers and Toots Kiley, as well as police detective Morris Bloom, try to reconstruct Hope's previous week, probings that are intercut with flashbacks to Hope's own investigation of the years-old suicide of a circus star. What emerges is an intricate, lurid tale of sex, blackmail and murder fueled by greed. "Little girl" refers to the dead circus star, a fully developed woman only three feet tall. Or it may be an old slang term for cocaine, in high demand among certain circus folk. Or it may even stand for lesbian child abuse-or all of the above. The tracings and retracings of Hope's trail among a large, colorful, unsavory cast are fascinating, and the final revelations-about some very nasty people-are stunning. This is the kind of book we hope for from a grandmaster like McBain. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.