Matthew Hope

Attorney Matthew Hope had hired Otto Samalson to conduct a simple marital investigation—so how does Samalson end up dead on a deserted highway? Hope's search for an answer takes him into Florida's drug underworld on the trail of a hooker—one who has the style and looks necessary to transform herself into a high-class cocaine-stealing Cinderella. What Hope uncovers is a complicated web of circumstances and a terrifying twist on a hooker's fairy tale.

Midnight emergencies broke up attorney Matthew Hope's marriage in the first place, so it's nothing new when a radio announcement interrupts him while he's in bed with his ex-wife. He'd only hired Otto Samalson to conduct a simple marital investigation...so how does Samalson end up dead on a deserted highway? Hope's search for an answer takes him into Florida's drug underworld on the trail of a hooker...who has the style and looks necessary to transform herself into a high-class cocaine stealing Cinderella.

A long shadow looms above the wife of filmmaker Carlton Markham. Then a hand clamps over her mouth, and a blade sinks into her back. Blood splatters on the film reel case beside her, and a young life is cut short. Lawyer Matthew Hope gets a call from Markham, who's been arrested for his wife's murder, but he says he didn't do it. Witnesses fly forward to proclaim his guilt, but Markham's not giving up on his innocence that easily. And when Hope digs deeper into the victim's business—he finds she may not have been the perfect lady that she seemed.

Lawyer Matthew Hope gets a call from Carlton Markham, who's been arrested for his filmmaker wife's murder but says he didn't do it. Witnesses fly forward to proclaim his guilt, but Markham's not giving up on his innocence that easily. And when Hope digs deeper into the victim's business - from heavy financial backers to sleazy egomaniacs - he finds she may not have been the perfect lady that she seemed. The one piece of evidence that could set Markham free and finger the real killer is the victim's film reel.

Jessica Leeds, wife of a prestigious Florida landowner, is brutally raped. Three Vietnamese immigrants are arrested and charged with the crime. After the ensuing trial results in their acquittal, Jessica's husband Stephen vows vengeance. Later, the three immigrants are found murdered, and of course the circumstances point to Stephen. Jessica turns to Matthew Hope, Florida lawyer and protagonist of Ed McBain's nursery rhyme and fairy tale series of mysteries. Hope takes the case.

After Jessica Leeds—wife of a prestigious, wealthy Florida landowner—is brutally raped, three Vietnamese immigrants are charged with the crime. After the trial results in their acquittal, Jessica's husband Stephen vows vengeance. Then, the three immigrants are found savagely murdered. When all of the evidence ties Stephen Leeds to the grisly killings, Jessica turns to Florida lawyer Matthew Hope. He takes the case—and discovers a situation far more complex and explosive than he, or his client, imagined.