Three Blind Mice

This is the first McBain book I have ever bothered to read even though I have been aware of McBain for years. I really enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading the other 12 Matthew Hope novels. Why McBain stopped writing Mathew Hope novels after 1998, I don't know, but it would be nice if he started up again.Read this one, then enjoy watching the TV movie based on it.

Ed McBain's "Matthew Hope" series is one of the more entertaining and engaging mystery series set in that most murderous of states - Florida! Well, not actually perhaps, but if one reads the vast number of murderous tomes and series set in the sunshine state one might get that impression. Like John D. MacDonald, Carl Hiassen, James Hall, Lawrence Shamus, Dave Barry, Tim Dorsey, and others MacBain makes good usage of his setting. Lead character and protagonist attorney/P.I. Matthew Hope's adventures aren't as madcap and humorous as those of some of the other authors mentioned above, but he is definitely hard boiled and suspenseful. In this novel Hope is engaged to defend Stephen Leeds, a man accused of murdering three Vietnamese immigrants who have just recently been acquited of raping Leeds' wife Jessie. When the men are found murdered and mutilated shortly after Stephen had publicly threatened to kill them, everyone assumes that he is guilty. Evidence found at the scene seems to clinch the matter, but Hope takes on the case and begins to investigate, along with his assistants. As is usual in a MacBain novel, you learn quite a lot about the various characters along the way, making them and their motives believable. I recommend all of the Matthew Hope series. While this one isn't his best, it is still a good pager turner. Recommended.Four Stars.