Review

Let's hope that The Last Best Hope (6 hours) is not the last we hear from Ed McBain or Matthew Hope, the very likable, very human hero of the best-selling Matthew Hope mystery series. Matthew, still reeling from his last encounter with bad guys and guns, gets unwittingly embroiled in a messy case of multiple double-crossing, duplicity, deceit, and a rising body count. McBain throws in a little kinky sex, some gorgeous, no-good broads, the priceless well, of course there is a price or why would anyone want to steal it clay vessel that Socrates drank the hemlock from, Matthew's current squeeze, and his ever-present ex-wife, Susan. McBain reads his stuff, and, as always, it is good stuff indeed.

Reviewed by Sukey Howard.