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Matthew Hope #4
Jack and the Beanstalk
Florida criminal lawyer Matthew Hope never takes a case unless he knows for sure his client is innocent. But retired schoolteacher Mary Barton - known as, "Mary, Mary, quite contrary" to her neighbors - isn't as easy woman to believe in. In fact, Mary doesn't appear interested in hiring Matthew, only in bad mouthing those she feels have done her wrong. But due to the efforts of Mary's former student, Melissa Lowndes, Matthew agrees to try to prove Mary innocent of the charges filed against her: sexually mutilating, murdering, and burying three little girls in her garden.
Making the case tougher, the State Attorney's "killer" prosecutor is assigned Mary's case. Max the Ax brings forth witnesses that swear to seeing Mary with each of the girls; Mary carrying bloody clothes to the cleaners; and Mary digging small graves late at night.
But Hope's biggest problem is Mary herself, a difficult woman swept up in horrible circumstances - a woman with secrets so terrible she can't tell them - even to save her own life.
Making the case tougher, the State Attorney's "killer" prosecutor is assigned Mary's case. Max the Ax brings forth witnesses that swear to seeing Mary with each of the girls; Mary carrying bloody clothes to the cleaners; and Mary digging small graves late at night.
But Hope's biggest problem is Mary herself, a difficult woman swept up in horrible circumstances - a woman with secrets so terrible she can't tell them - even to save her own life.
215 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1984
48 people are currently reading
236 people want to read
About the author
Ed McBain
706 books667 followers"Ed McBain" is one of the pen names of American author and screenwriter Salvatore Albert Lombino (1926-2005), who legally adopted the name
Evan Hunter
in 1952.
While successful and well known as Evan Hunter, he was even better known as Ed McBain, a name he used for most of his crime fiction, beginning in 1956.
He also used the pen names John Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, Dean Hudson, Evan Hunter, and Richard Marsten.
While successful and well known as Evan Hunter, he was even better known as Ed McBain, a name he used for most of his crime fiction, beginning in 1956.
He also used the pen names John Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, Dean Hudson, Evan Hunter, and Richard Marsten.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
June 24, 2021
I haven't read/ listened to any McBain in a long time... since living overseas in Portugal. This was an awesome audio book. Great narration, fantastic who- done- it plot. The characters... especially the cop Bloom... we're exquisitely written and engaging, even Jack #2s neighbor Leitta. All in all a very satisfying story. My second Matthew Hope novel.
April 16, 2024
Overall a fun read...I enjoyed it...I'll read a few more Matthew Hope books over the next couple of years...3 outta 5...
March 15, 2018
Another outing for Matthew Hope, in his fictional town of Calusa, Florida. A young commercial client is found murdered and Hope gets drawn into his family of cattle ranchers. For someone who is not a criminal lawyer he gets drawn into some violent action!
May 3, 2020
I have grown quite fond of this series, something that I hadn't expected having come to it as a dyed-in-the-wool devotee of the famed 87th Precinct series. But Ed McBain was, well, just very good at what he did, and managed to make his central character, along with those with whom he regularly interacts, likable and sympathetic.
Mathew Hope, a lawyer in the fictional Florida town, Calusa, seems to have a penchant for winding up helping the local police solve perplexing murders. He has befriended one Det. Morris Bloom, a terrific character in and of himself (a nice Jewish cop from NY transplanted to sleepy little Calusa), and together, they collaborate to solve whatever mystery McBain has cooked up for that story.
Along the way, as I've come to learn, Hope will inevitably encounter some rather beautiful woman or other, have a promising start with said female, only to find his "hopes" dashed on the shores of some unfortunate circumstance or other. In this particular instance, he is left for another man not once, but twice, by women with whom it seemed he was either in love or falling in love. What's up with this? Cursed to continually be left by the wayside as love passes him by? And he seems like a very nice guy...
Well, be that as it may, McBain displays his trademark skills here: dialogue so good the reader forgets he/she is reading it rather than listening to it; and some padding along the way, but nothing egregious in this episode, which moves along pretty quickly.
All in all, another very enjoyable diversion and an entertaining book-- McBain style.
Mathew Hope, a lawyer in the fictional Florida town, Calusa, seems to have a penchant for winding up helping the local police solve perplexing murders. He has befriended one Det. Morris Bloom, a terrific character in and of himself (a nice Jewish cop from NY transplanted to sleepy little Calusa), and together, they collaborate to solve whatever mystery McBain has cooked up for that story.
Along the way, as I've come to learn, Hope will inevitably encounter some rather beautiful woman or other, have a promising start with said female, only to find his "hopes" dashed on the shores of some unfortunate circumstance or other. In this particular instance, he is left for another man not once, but twice, by women with whom it seemed he was either in love or falling in love. What's up with this? Cursed to continually be left by the wayside as love passes him by? And he seems like a very nice guy...
Well, be that as it may, McBain displays his trademark skills here: dialogue so good the reader forgets he/she is reading it rather than listening to it; and some padding along the way, but nothing egregious in this episode, which moves along pretty quickly.
All in all, another very enjoyable diversion and an entertaining book-- McBain style.
August 8, 2025
Matthew Hope returns once more in Ed McBain's acclaimed series. "Jack and the Beanstalk" contains both suspense and questions that must be answered. Attorney Matthew Hope becomes heavily involved in this latest mystery. Will he become so involved that he'll end up--figuratively speaking, of course--buying the farm?
Matthew Hope learns early on in this novel how bad things do happen in threes. On Monday evening, August 8th, after he and his girlfriend Dale O'Brien leave a grand gala opening, Matthew gets involved in a scuffle in a bar. Two cowboys from Ananburg named Charlie and Jeff beat him bloody while he defends Dale. Then after getting stitched up at the hospital and being driven home by Dale, she adds insult to his injuries by abruptly ending their long-term relationship. She leaves him for one of her clients whom she will get married to.
Number Three occurs the following morning on August 9th. Detective Morris Bloom phones Matthew just after seven A.M. Bloom tells him that one of his clients, Jack McKinney, was found dead the night before in his third-floor apartment. Jack was stabbed fourteen times and his condo was torn apart.
Matt tells Morrie that on last Friday, August fifth, he met with Jack McKinney, 20, to handle a real-estate transaction for him. McKinney wanted to purchase a snapbean farm on the border of Calusa and Ananburg. Jack gave Matthew a $4,000 cash deposit to put in escrow. He wanted the deal he made with the farmer Avery Burrill to go through a-sap. McKinney would give the remainder of the farm's value to Burrill ($36,000 in cash) at the closing set for September second.
But Matthew has his own doubts. Why would Jack refuse any financing and waive an inspection of Burrill's property? Hope finds out from the County Extension Agent John Porter that due to the sandy soils at the farm, snapbeans aren't a "cash crop" yet other produce like strawberries and tomatoes are. But Jack is adamant and wants to go ahead and buy this farm.
Matthew tells Detective Bloom how he tried to dissuade Jack--to no avail. Now on that same morning, Avery Burrill phones Matthew at his law firm demanding the remaining $36,000 (which has vanished without a trace along with a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver that also belonged to Jack.) Plus Burrill's attorney Harry Loomis (not the gas-station owner from "Beauty and the Beast")--upon returning from a weeklong fishing trip--is pulling unethical tricks such as accusing Jack of "welching" on the deal even though he was found murdered.
Ten days later on Friday, August 19th, as Matthew's wounds are slowly healing, Probate does not receive any will from Jack McKinney's estate. After obtaining information from Bloom, Matthew drives out to the McKinney (MK) Ranch near Ananburg. The MK Ranch was founded by Drew McKinney, Jack's late father who died of cancer two years earlier and a week after Jack's 18th birthday. (Drew gave Jack the .38 Smith & Wesson revolver as a present.)
Drew's widow Veronica now operates the MK Ranch which breeds cattle. Veronica paid the monthly rent and fees for Jack's condo which he moved into in June. She also gave her son a monthly stipend and said that he was unable to do any ranch work. Veronica thought of Jack as a "tennis bum" who barely got through high school. Despite his untimely demise, she shows no remorse for the loss of her son.
Her daughter Sylvia, known as "Sunny", is 23 and about as handy on the MK Ranch as her brother was. Sunny lives part-time with her mother and does menial work on the ranch. Otherwise, she lives with her boyfriend Jackie Crowell, an 18-year-old high school dropout who works in produce at a local supermarket. They reside in a small apartment in New Town, a low-income neighborhood in Calusa.
Later that Friday evening, after another needless go-around with Attorney Loomis, Matthew finds Sunny at his house . She tells him about the cattle-raising business. (Veronica--known as a "cow-calf lady"--and the MK Ranch are at the bottom of the so-called "food chain".) Sunny also mentions how her brother Jack was rustling cattle every spring and fall after their father died. She thinks that Jack gave the ranch manager Sam Watson a cut in order to "falsify the count". Both Sam and Jack left the MK Ranch the previous June.
Matthew encourages Sunny to contact the Calusa Police about her theories, but she has a strong aversion to Detective Bloom. On Monday, August 22nd, Matthew tells Morrie about Sunny's thoughts about how Jack illegally earned his $40,000 to purchase the Burrill farm. (Bloom thinks narcotics while assumes an inheritance from his father Drew. Both are wrong.) Bloom also wants to teach Matthew self-defense against punks like Charlie and Jeff.
That week Matthew discovers two murders that may be related to Jack McKinney's demise. After another wasted trip to Ananburg to hear about a counter-offer from Attorney Loomis, Matthew's car breaks down near the Burrill farm. Arriving at the farmer's house, Matthew discovers that Burrill was gunned down and his house torn apart. Matthew phones Bloom and the Calusa Police to report another murder.
The next afternoon, Sunny McKinney shows up at Matthew's law office. She is badly frightened about something. But instead of listening, he peppers Sunny with questions and acts like a "benevolent bully". She's worried that whoever killed her brother may now be after her. Something in her demeanor has changed since last Friday night, yet Matthew seems to take on Bloom's role. He also fails to ask Sunny if she knows who killed her brother. A bad situation only gets worse when Sunny, already on edge, leaves Matthew's office in a rage.
Later on Tuesday night, Matthew tells Veronica (whom he has a brief love affair with despite her being almost 20 years his senior) about Sunny's office visit. They soon realize that Sunny isn't at either the ranch nor at Jackie Crowell's apartment in New Town. After calling Bloom who pays a late-night visit to Jackie's place, the detective ends up listing Sunny as missing and issuing a BOLO (Be On the Look-Out For). Or did Sunny stab her brother and shoot the farmer dead?
Friday, August 26th comes soon enough for Matthew Hope. The loose ends are slowly getting tied up. The sleazy Loomis finally agrees to let Avery Burrill's daughter Hester receive the $4,000 in escrow and Jack's three-year-old Ford Mustang and to sell her father's farm once it becomes hers. At lunch, Hester confides to Matthew that whoever will end up buying Avery's property must be "real crazy about weeds." So true, Hester--so true. Matthew also has another "hoedown" at lunch when those two cowboys Charlie and Jeff walk into the restaurant he and Hester are at. But thanks to Bloom's teaching in self-defense, Matthew bests his two foes.
As the afternoon turns to night, Matthew finds out the truth about Jack McKinney and what he intended to do on his new farm. All are prime motives that led to Jack's murder. Along with Detective Bloom and his partner Cooper Rawles, Matthew may have an idea who the killer is. One that could cost him his life, sending him up to the castle in the sky and playing a magic harp.
"Jack and the Beanstalk" is one of Ed McBain's best books. Taut and filled with suspense, readers are kept guessing. The loose ends unravel while the vines tend to intertwine together. This is one "fairy tale" that's not to be missed. Just read the first three Matthew Hope novels before you pick this book up though. It's worth the wait!
Rating for "Jack and the Beanstalk": ****
Matthew Hope learns early on in this novel how bad things do happen in threes. On Monday evening, August 8th, after he and his girlfriend Dale O'Brien leave a grand gala opening, Matthew gets involved in a scuffle in a bar. Two cowboys from Ananburg named Charlie and Jeff beat him bloody while he defends Dale. Then after getting stitched up at the hospital and being driven home by Dale, she adds insult to his injuries by abruptly ending their long-term relationship. She leaves him for one of her clients whom she will get married to.
Number Three occurs the following morning on August 9th. Detective Morris Bloom phones Matthew just after seven A.M. Bloom tells him that one of his clients, Jack McKinney, was found dead the night before in his third-floor apartment. Jack was stabbed fourteen times and his condo was torn apart.
Matt tells Morrie that on last Friday, August fifth, he met with Jack McKinney, 20, to handle a real-estate transaction for him. McKinney wanted to purchase a snapbean farm on the border of Calusa and Ananburg. Jack gave Matthew a $4,000 cash deposit to put in escrow. He wanted the deal he made with the farmer Avery Burrill to go through a-sap. McKinney would give the remainder of the farm's value to Burrill ($36,000 in cash) at the closing set for September second.
But Matthew has his own doubts. Why would Jack refuse any financing and waive an inspection of Burrill's property? Hope finds out from the County Extension Agent John Porter that due to the sandy soils at the farm, snapbeans aren't a "cash crop" yet other produce like strawberries and tomatoes are. But Jack is adamant and wants to go ahead and buy this farm.
Matthew tells Detective Bloom how he tried to dissuade Jack--to no avail. Now on that same morning, Avery Burrill phones Matthew at his law firm demanding the remaining $36,000 (which has vanished without a trace along with a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver that also belonged to Jack.) Plus Burrill's attorney Harry Loomis (not the gas-station owner from "Beauty and the Beast")--upon returning from a weeklong fishing trip--is pulling unethical tricks such as accusing Jack of "welching" on the deal even though he was found murdered.
Ten days later on Friday, August 19th, as Matthew's wounds are slowly healing, Probate does not receive any will from Jack McKinney's estate. After obtaining information from Bloom, Matthew drives out to the McKinney (MK) Ranch near Ananburg. The MK Ranch was founded by Drew McKinney, Jack's late father who died of cancer two years earlier and a week after Jack's 18th birthday. (Drew gave Jack the .38 Smith & Wesson revolver as a present.)
Drew's widow Veronica now operates the MK Ranch which breeds cattle. Veronica paid the monthly rent and fees for Jack's condo which he moved into in June. She also gave her son a monthly stipend and said that he was unable to do any ranch work. Veronica thought of Jack as a "tennis bum" who barely got through high school. Despite his untimely demise, she shows no remorse for the loss of her son.
Her daughter Sylvia, known as "Sunny", is 23 and about as handy on the MK Ranch as her brother was. Sunny lives part-time with her mother and does menial work on the ranch. Otherwise, she lives with her boyfriend Jackie Crowell, an 18-year-old high school dropout who works in produce at a local supermarket. They reside in a small apartment in New Town, a low-income neighborhood in Calusa.
Later that Friday evening, after another needless go-around with Attorney Loomis, Matthew finds Sunny at his house . She tells him about the cattle-raising business. (Veronica--known as a "cow-calf lady"--and the MK Ranch are at the bottom of the so-called "food chain".) Sunny also mentions how her brother Jack was rustling cattle every spring and fall after their father died. She thinks that Jack gave the ranch manager Sam Watson a cut in order to "falsify the count". Both Sam and Jack left the MK Ranch the previous June.
Matthew encourages Sunny to contact the Calusa Police about her theories, but she has a strong aversion to Detective Bloom. On Monday, August 22nd, Matthew tells Morrie about Sunny's thoughts about how Jack illegally earned his $40,000 to purchase the Burrill farm. (Bloom thinks narcotics while assumes an inheritance from his father Drew. Both are wrong.) Bloom also wants to teach Matthew self-defense against punks like Charlie and Jeff.
That week Matthew discovers two murders that may be related to Jack McKinney's demise. After another wasted trip to Ananburg to hear about a counter-offer from Attorney Loomis, Matthew's car breaks down near the Burrill farm. Arriving at the farmer's house, Matthew discovers that Burrill was gunned down and his house torn apart. Matthew phones Bloom and the Calusa Police to report another murder.
The next afternoon, Sunny McKinney shows up at Matthew's law office. She is badly frightened about something. But instead of listening, he peppers Sunny with questions and acts like a "benevolent bully". She's worried that whoever killed her brother may now be after her. Something in her demeanor has changed since last Friday night, yet Matthew seems to take on Bloom's role. He also fails to ask Sunny if she knows who killed her brother. A bad situation only gets worse when Sunny, already on edge, leaves Matthew's office in a rage.
Later on Tuesday night, Matthew tells Veronica (whom he has a brief love affair with despite her being almost 20 years his senior) about Sunny's office visit. They soon realize that Sunny isn't at either the ranch nor at Jackie Crowell's apartment in New Town. After calling Bloom who pays a late-night visit to Jackie's place, the detective ends up listing Sunny as missing and issuing a BOLO (Be On the Look-Out For). Or did Sunny stab her brother and shoot the farmer dead?
Friday, August 26th comes soon enough for Matthew Hope. The loose ends are slowly getting tied up. The sleazy Loomis finally agrees to let Avery Burrill's daughter Hester receive the $4,000 in escrow and Jack's three-year-old Ford Mustang and to sell her father's farm once it becomes hers. At lunch, Hester confides to Matthew that whoever will end up buying Avery's property must be "real crazy about weeds." So true, Hester--so true. Matthew also has another "hoedown" at lunch when those two cowboys Charlie and Jeff walk into the restaurant he and Hester are at. But thanks to Bloom's teaching in self-defense, Matthew bests his two foes.
As the afternoon turns to night, Matthew finds out the truth about Jack McKinney and what he intended to do on his new farm. All are prime motives that led to Jack's murder. Along with Detective Bloom and his partner Cooper Rawles, Matthew may have an idea who the killer is. One that could cost him his life, sending him up to the castle in the sky and playing a magic harp.
"Jack and the Beanstalk" is one of Ed McBain's best books. Taut and filled with suspense, readers are kept guessing. The loose ends unravel while the vines tend to intertwine together. This is one "fairy tale" that's not to be missed. Just read the first three Matthew Hope novels before you pick this book up though. It's worth the wait!
Rating for "Jack and the Beanstalk": ****
July 24, 2024
The story starts with a party, Matthew Hope getting beaten up and his girlfriend splitting up with him. Not a great start for Hope, made worse when a homicide victim is found with his business card in his wallet.
Jack Mckinney hired Hope as an attorney in a purchase of a snap bean farm in Florida. Hope advises Jack that snap beans do not grow well in Calusa, but against his advice a deal is struck for $40, ooo. Soon after he is found stabbed 14 times in his apartment.
Hope becomes investigator along with Detective Bloom, when the money is missing and no motive can be established. In the course of the investigation Hope meets Jack's beautiful sister Sunny and her equally gorgeous mother, Veronica. Both of which end up skinny dipping in his pool late on different nights, only one of them ending up in his bed.
The snap bean farmer is also shot dead, again the motive is not immediately obvious, apart from the farmer wanting the $40, 000 agreed for the sale of the farm.
Sunny has some insight into why her brother may have been murdered, including cattle rustling.
Things start to spiral when Sunny goes missing, with her boyfriend trying to find her.
She is hides out with a neighbour, but is found in Hope's swimming pool shot to death.
The true story comes out about the motive for Jack's death - the farm is to be used to grow marijuana. Sunny and Jack are close and he tells her his plans, she unfortunately tells her boyfriend Crowell who gets greedy and wants the money.
When Bloom and Hope arrive to arrest Crowell he escapes and shoots Hope. Crowell is caught and Hope makes a full recovery.
The story is fairly slow paced and straight forward with no great plot twists. Plenty of descriptions of beautiful women. Overall a good read.
Jack Mckinney hired Hope as an attorney in a purchase of a snap bean farm in Florida. Hope advises Jack that snap beans do not grow well in Calusa, but against his advice a deal is struck for $40, ooo. Soon after he is found stabbed 14 times in his apartment.
Hope becomes investigator along with Detective Bloom, when the money is missing and no motive can be established. In the course of the investigation Hope meets Jack's beautiful sister Sunny and her equally gorgeous mother, Veronica. Both of which end up skinny dipping in his pool late on different nights, only one of them ending up in his bed.
The snap bean farmer is also shot dead, again the motive is not immediately obvious, apart from the farmer wanting the $40, 000 agreed for the sale of the farm.
Sunny has some insight into why her brother may have been murdered, including cattle rustling.
Things start to spiral when Sunny goes missing, with her boyfriend trying to find her.
She is hides out with a neighbour, but is found in Hope's swimming pool shot to death.
The true story comes out about the motive for Jack's death - the farm is to be used to grow marijuana. Sunny and Jack are close and he tells her his plans, she unfortunately tells her boyfriend Crowell who gets greedy and wants the money.
When Bloom and Hope arrive to arrest Crowell he escapes and shoots Hope. Crowell is caught and Hope makes a full recovery.
The story is fairly slow paced and straight forward with no great plot twists. Plenty of descriptions of beautiful women. Overall a good read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 22, 2019
Narrada al estilo de los policiales tradicionales, esta novela de Ed McBain es entretenida y de fácil lectura, pero no presenta mayores sorpresas, y nos muestra algunos personajes bastante estereotipados.
Su protagonista, un abogado devenido en eventual detective, debe lidiar con sus problemas sentimentales al mismo tiempo que tiene que resolver el crimen de un cliente.
Naturalmente las cosas se complican, y hay más cadáveres hasta que al final, como corresponde, se da con el criminal, mientras la vida sentimental de Matthew Hope, - a quien ya conocimos en otra novela- sigue dando tumbos. Es que, a diferencia de otros detectives de ficción, no se trata de un duro ni de un cínico, sino de un tipo demasiado sentimental como para no involucrarse más de lo aconsejable en los casos que investiga.
En síntesis, nos encontramos con una buena opción para distraerse un rato en las vacaciones, pero no mucho más que eso.
https://sobrevolandolecturas.blogspot...
Su protagonista, un abogado devenido en eventual detective, debe lidiar con sus problemas sentimentales al mismo tiempo que tiene que resolver el crimen de un cliente.
Naturalmente las cosas se complican, y hay más cadáveres hasta que al final, como corresponde, se da con el criminal, mientras la vida sentimental de Matthew Hope, - a quien ya conocimos en otra novela- sigue dando tumbos. Es que, a diferencia de otros detectives de ficción, no se trata de un duro ni de un cínico, sino de un tipo demasiado sentimental como para no involucrarse más de lo aconsejable en los casos que investiga.
En síntesis, nos encontramos con una buena opción para distraerse un rato en las vacaciones, pero no mucho más que eso.
https://sobrevolandolecturas.blogspot...
April 18, 2024
I used to think of the books of Ed McBain a little shamefully as a guilty pleasure. But after reading the comments in Perplexing Plots by David Bordwell, who devotes half a chapter to the career of Ed McBain, I now have full respect for this popular, professional crime writer (and for many others) who cranked out maybe 100 books over his long career. The opening chapter of this book, which covers twenty-four pages, is an excellent example of a great storyteller knowing how to hook his reader. You buy in. And the rest follows. One reviewer said that the opening page of a book by Ed McBain was like a first potato chip. You’re happy to be hooked.
September 13, 2018
Another in McBain's now-classic series with protagonist lawyer Matthew Hope. In this one, Hope is concerned with an unlikely case of a family involved in the purchase of a bean farm in south Florida. The case stumbles along with Hope and his friendly NY-transplant police detective friend trying to solve crimes revolving around the purchase of the bean farm. Hope is a likable character, and the case isn't too preposterous, so it makes for an entertaining read of a book very much in an older style of the procedural genre.
July 16, 2022
NOTE: The Goodreads plot summary is for a different book, #10 in the Matthew Hope series: Mary, Mary.
Jack and the Beanstalk begins with a real estate deal gone bad; the buyer is murdered, death by stabbing. From an Amazon listing, "Jack McKinney is a bright-eyed twenty-year-old in the business of buying a snapbean farm with forty grand in cash, and attorney Matthew Hope assists with the deal—until Jack’s found dead in his condo, stabbed fourteen times."
I was surprised to find this book pulled me in and sometimes made me laugh.
Jack and the Beanstalk begins with a real estate deal gone bad; the buyer is murdered, death by stabbing. From an Amazon listing, "Jack McKinney is a bright-eyed twenty-year-old in the business of buying a snapbean farm with forty grand in cash, and attorney Matthew Hope assists with the deal—until Jack’s found dead in his condo, stabbed fourteen times."
I was surprised to find this book pulled me in and sometimes made me laugh.
May 25, 2019
“... and I didn’t know whether she’d meant she was sorry I’d been beaten up or sorry she was ending it this way.”
Matthew Hope gets his ass kicked in a bar, defending/protecting his girlfriend, and after the hospital, she breaks up with him. Tough start to this book!
Then, the book slows waaaaay down, and I learn more about raising cattle than I ever wanted to. Waaaay more. Then it picks up again, and then it's over. The dialogue is good, especially the banter, but the main character, Hope, is pretty lame, and I didn't much care for anyone else, except maybe the cops. It was my first "Hope" book, and probably my last. I'll stick to the 87th Precinct, thanks.
Matthew Hope gets his ass kicked in a bar, defending/protecting his girlfriend, and after the hospital, she breaks up with him. Tough start to this book!
Then, the book slows waaaaay down, and I learn more about raising cattle than I ever wanted to. Waaaay more. Then it picks up again, and then it's over. The dialogue is good, especially the banter, but the main character, Hope, is pretty lame, and I didn't much care for anyone else, except maybe the cops. It was my first "Hope" book, and probably my last. I'll stick to the 87th Precinct, thanks.
April 23, 2025
Ed McBain saved his best character for last. Matthew Hope is one of the best character, always wise cracking and seeing the absurd and remarking on it. Though he is not a detective he seems to pick up on clues and figuring out who did it. In the story, jack buys a useless bean field, so what is he going to do with it. There are multiple twists and turns. The scene where Matthew describes his meeting with Harry Loomis is quite funny. Highly recommended.
July 8, 2024
Dobrá detektívka. Rýchly dej, efektívne aj efektné opisy, postavy zaujímavé. Veľa hlbokých myšlienok tam nebolo, ale treba aj ľahšie knižky. Na konci už trošku priehľadné, a vrah je dosť "plochá" postava, človek si povie že sa už autorovi asi nechcelo. Inak fajn.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2017
Hope is great, but the stories are going to have to get better or I may stop reading them
January 5, 2018
I enjoyed this overall. It had a slow start to it with many characters but once I got into the story I did not want to stop reading. The ending was a complete surprise to me.
September 9, 2020
#4 in the Matthew Hope series. Pretty weak entry in the series, I can’t say I really cared about the outcome of the case.
October 30, 2021
Everything this man wrote is gold.
December 13, 2021
Great lawyer/police to mun e. Ha!
This was a page turner, there were lots of unexpected twists. I am going to read the entire of his series.
This was a page turner, there were lots of unexpected twists. I am going to read the entire of his series.
March 20, 2024
A master on top of his game.
December 15, 2024
Matthew can’t seem to help himself….beautiful women and crime.
October 20, 2025
I have a 20% rule. I read 20% of the book and it I don't like it, it's an automatic DNF. Automatic 1 star if I have to DNF it this way. Had to axe this one
It was hopelessly boring to me
It was hopelessly boring to me
April 1, 2014
This was more than a little disappointing. Since it's a McBain book, the mystery was good, the writing decent, and the characters ok. It's the details that bothered me...bothered me a lot. Here are a few examples:
1. Main character walks several miles through a torrential downpour, arrives at a house, hangs around for several hours doing spoiler type stuff, then returns to his office, works a few hours, goes out to dinner then home. At no time after he arrives at the house are his wet, or rather drenched, clothes mentioned. There is never even a suggestion that he would be wanting to put on dry clothes. Brings a whole new meaning to drip dry, huh?
2. Main character gets out of jeep to slosh through mud to open a gate in a field in dress shoes. Like with the clothes, there's no mention of him cleaning or even wanting to clean his muddy shoes. Perhaps McBain has never walked through mud?
3. Another main character, a woman, usually wears white--white shirt, white shoes (sandals) and white jeans. She wears this EVEN when going out into the field in a jeep to check on a cow. Say what? I don't know where McBain got his experience of life on a farm, but in most of the work vehicles (pick-ups, jeeps, etc.) I know, white jeans would remain white exactly as long as it took for the wearer to get in and sit down.
There are several other non-sequiturs like how someone in town made a call to someone in the country then arrived in time to see the person called race out of the driveway. Then there's the one where no one in the apartment noticed the women's underwear hanging from the shower rod in the bathroom--no one but the detective who walked in.
And so it goes and goes and goes. The book was a decent read--I just felt McBain wasn't as involved in the characters as I was.
1. Main character walks several miles through a torrential downpour, arrives at a house, hangs around for several hours doing spoiler type stuff, then returns to his office, works a few hours, goes out to dinner then home. At no time after he arrives at the house are his wet, or rather drenched, clothes mentioned. There is never even a suggestion that he would be wanting to put on dry clothes. Brings a whole new meaning to drip dry, huh?
2. Main character gets out of jeep to slosh through mud to open a gate in a field in dress shoes. Like with the clothes, there's no mention of him cleaning or even wanting to clean his muddy shoes. Perhaps McBain has never walked through mud?
3. Another main character, a woman, usually wears white--white shirt, white shoes (sandals) and white jeans. She wears this EVEN when going out into the field in a jeep to check on a cow. Say what? I don't know where McBain got his experience of life on a farm, but in most of the work vehicles (pick-ups, jeeps, etc.) I know, white jeans would remain white exactly as long as it took for the wearer to get in and sit down.
There are several other non-sequiturs like how someone in town made a call to someone in the country then arrived in time to see the person called race out of the driveway. Then there's the one where no one in the apartment noticed the women's underwear hanging from the shower rod in the bathroom--no one but the detective who walked in.
And so it goes and goes and goes. The book was a decent read--I just felt McBain wasn't as involved in the characters as I was.
November 16, 2016
This book, like the last book I read in the series (Snow White And Rose Red), didn’t seem up to McBain’s usual standards.
It was an okay story about murder, but only okay. It didn’t have the sparkle that most McBain novels have. Even the long narratives that he normally writes so well are flat here.
Morris Bloom, Matthew Hope’s best friend comes across as long-winded – far different from the character I remember from books in this series I read years ago. And one character was a caricature of a small town southern lawyer. McBain is normally so much better than that.
I don’t know if McBain’s heart wasn’t in this series at this point or if he just hadn’t found his stride with the characters yet, but if I hadn’t read the later books in the series before reading this one, I wouldn’t have read them.
It was an okay story about murder, but only okay. It didn’t have the sparkle that most McBain novels have. Even the long narratives that he normally writes so well are flat here.
Morris Bloom, Matthew Hope’s best friend comes across as long-winded – far different from the character I remember from books in this series I read years ago. And one character was a caricature of a small town southern lawyer. McBain is normally so much better than that.
I don’t know if McBain’s heart wasn’t in this series at this point or if he just hadn’t found his stride with the characters yet, but if I hadn’t read the later books in the series before reading this one, I wouldn’t have read them.
January 1, 2018
Přes svátky jsem vyhrabala z knihovny papírové knihy, které za normálního provozu neučtu. Jednou z nich byl i omnibus tří knih Eda McBaina, který začíná právě tímto dílem. Mimo jiné mi přišlo vhod, že je to zase jednou jiný žánr, než čtu obvykle.
Prostředí malého města na Floridě mě bavilo a zápletka sice neohromila, ale přiměřeně splnila očekávání. Přistihla jsem se ale, že se u čtení překladů z angličtiny nechám příliš často vyrušit přemýšlením nad volbou slov (a to ani sama nepřekládám, sakra) a navíc mě rozčilovalo, že se překladatel či korektor rozhodl u hrdinova křestního jména nepoužívat pátý pád. Tobě se to takhle jako líbí, Matthew? Mně ne.
Další dva díly si asi zase odložím na někdy.
Prostředí malého města na Floridě mě bavilo a zápletka sice neohromila, ale přiměřeně splnila očekávání. Přistihla jsem se ale, že se u čtení překladů z angličtiny nechám příliš často vyrušit přemýšlením nad volbou slov (a to ani sama nepřekládám, sakra) a navíc mě rozčilovalo, že se překladatel či korektor rozhodl u hrdinova křestního jména nepoužívat pátý pád. Tobě se to takhle jako líbí, Matthew? Mně ne.
Další dva díly si asi zase odložím na někdy.
February 17, 2016
Twenty-year-old Jack McKinney comes to Attorney Matthew Hope to represent him in the purchase of a snap bean farm. Despite Matthew's advice that snap beans do not do well on the Gulf coast of Florida, Jack puts down a $4,000 deposit on the farm....in cash with the promise of the balance of the $36,000 agreed purchase price at closing, also in cash. Several days later, Jack is found stabbed to death in his apartment. There is no sign of the cash, nor can the police find any trace of it in a bank account or safe deposit box. While Matthew investigates, another body turns up and most of the suspects seem to have an awful lot of skeletons in their closets.
June 16, 2014
The Goodreads description for this book belongs to a different book. This book is about the death of a 20 year old man who was in the process of buying a bean farm in Florida, using the services of Matthew Hope in the transaction.
I enjoyed the laconic style and the throw-back to 1950s US decent-but-tempted PI fiction. Undemanding, competent prose and a story I wanted to finish.
I enjoyed the laconic style and the throw-back to 1950s US decent-but-tempted PI fiction. Undemanding, competent prose and a story I wanted to finish.
November 26, 2022
Another great entry into the McBain catalogue. Matthew Hope is a tremendous character and the supporting cast gets better and better. If you want to read what crime fiction is supposed to be, read as many McBain books you can find.
March 1, 2009
Matthew Hope series
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May 1, 2009Fiction
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