Three Blind Mice

Born in New York, Evan Hunter (1926–2005) wrote the screen play for Hitchcock’s The Birds in 1963. He received the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and is one of three American writers to be awarded the Diamond Dagger for a lifetime of achievement by the British Crime Writers Association. Under the name Ed McBain, he authored the sprawling 87th Precinct series — the longest, most varied crime series in the world — which includes fifty-five novels about a fictional team of policemen, and thirteen novels in the Matthew Hope series featuring an up-and-coming lawyer in the Florida Gulf Coast. Known for tackling controversial content with a thoughtful eye, he is the author of over eighty novels.

Initiating the Matthew Hope series with Goldilocks in 1978, McBain, the author of 40 bestselling 87th-Precinct novels, created another favorite sleuth, hero of macabre fairy tales. In his ninth appearance, the Calusa, Fla., lawyer takes on a "hopeless case," defending Stephen Leeds, arrested for murder. The victims were three Vietnamese tried but found not guilty of raping Leeds's wife, Jessie. Every bit of evidence ties the crimes to Leeds, who had publicly sworn to avenge his wife's abuse, but Hope believes in his client and works diligently to free him. The dangerous search for clues to the killer absorbs the lawyer--and the reader. Small discoveries become significant when Hope piles them into a mountain of evidence against the unsuspected guilty party. As always, McBain's ear-perfect dialogue enhances his masterly plotting.
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