There Was a Little Girl (Thorndike Press Large Print Paperback Series)

SUMMARY: The popular Matthew Hope is back in his 11th murder mystery from bestselling Ed McBain, one of the best-known names in contemporary suspense. Matthew sinks into a coma after being shot twice in the ghetto district. His friends, private eye Warren Chambers and cop Morris Bloom, investigate and soon find themselves in a murky circus underworld of offbeat sex, drugs, blackmail and murder. 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 it?s up to Hope?s friends and associates?PI pals Warren Chambers and Toots Kiley, law partner Frank Summerville, police detective Morris Bloom, and girlfriend Patricia Demming?to retrace the attorney?s 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 woman?no taller than a yardstick?who?s 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? After Matthew Hope slips into a coma — the result of a drive-by shooting — his friends, private eye Warren Chambers and police detective Morris Bloom — must follow in his investigative footsteps to discover why he was shot. All signs point to the local circus — an underworld of offbeat sex, drugs, blackmail, murder, and in the center of it all, there was a little girl. Florida attorney Matthew Hope gets shot after some routine legal work for a circus turns into an investigation of the death of a dwarf.