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The morning after Jonathan Parrish's fortieth birthday party, the guest of honor is found lying dead in a pool of his own blood. Police arrive at the scene to find his older brother, Ralph, covered in red and clutching the murder weapon. From behind bars, Ralph insists he didn't do it. He claims he heard a scream from the other room, saw a man dressed in black running away, and rushed to pull the fatal blade from Jonathan's chest. But his explanations don't sway the Florida police, show more especially when several witnesses saw the brothers arguing about Jonathan's homosexual lifestyle the night before. But attorney Matthew Hope believes Ralph--call it instinct, call it a hunch, Matt's law partner, Frank Summerville, calls it Matt's "code." But with Frank too distraught over his crumbling marriage to pitch in this time, Matthew enlists private eye Warren Chambers to help prove Ralph's innocence. And with few clues to go by, the duo will have to dig through a world of closet cases, secret trysts, and a community on edge to capture the real killer. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Der er noget meget tidstypisk over denne krimi fra 1980'erne. Den er proppet med privatdetektiver, redneck-betjente, tvivlsomme personager og rige mennesker med hemmeligheder. Det er lidet originalt, men det hjælper lidt med en introduktion til bøssemiljøet i Florida og indtil flere indflettede advarsler mod AIDS.
Alt i alt ok underholdning og en ikke alt for gennemskuelig krimigåde, men på ingen måde noget, som man bare ikke må gå glip af.
Alt i alt ok underholdning og en ikke alt for gennemskuelig krimigåde, men på ingen måde noget, som man bare ikke må gå glip af.
Nov 4, 2009Danish
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Fiction with Men's Given Names in the Title
302 works; 11 members
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4,360 works; 110 members
Author Information
364+ Works 32,456 Members
Ed McBain is a pen name for Evan Hunter who was born in 1926 in East Harlem, New York on October 15, 1926. Hunter was born with the name Salvatore Albert Lombino, and he legally adopted the name Evan Hunter in 1952. During World War II, Hunter joined the Navy and served aboard a destroyer in the Pacific. He graduated from Hunter College, were he show more majored in English and psychology, with minors in dramatics and education. He was a prolific writer who also wrote under the names of Ed McBain, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, and Richard Marsten. His first major success came in 1954 with the publication of The Blackboard Jungle, which was later adapted as a film. He published the first three books in the 87th Precinct series in 1956 under the name of Ed McBain. He also wrote juvenile books, plays, television scripts, and stories and articles for magazines. He won the Mystery Writers of America Award in 1957 and the Grand Master Award in 1986 for lifetime achievement. He died of laryngeal cancer on July 6, 2005 at the age of 78. (Bowker Author Biography) Ed McBain is the only American to receive the Diamond Dagger, the British Crime Writers Association's highest award. He also holds the Mystery Writers of America's coveted Grand Master Award. His books have sold over one hundred million copies, ranging from his most recent, "The Last Dance", to the bestselling "The Blackboard Jungle", the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" & the bestselling "Privileged Conversation", written under his own name, Evan Hunter. He lives in Connecticut. (Publisher Provided) Ed McBain, aka Evan Hunter, wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and has written many novels. He is the only American to be awarded Britain's coveted Diamond Dagger Award, the highest honor a suspense writer can achieve. He lives in Connecticut. (Publisher Provided) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The House That Jack Built
- Original title
- The House That Jack Built
- Original publication date
- 1988
- People/Characters
- Matthew Hope
- Epigraph
- [None]
- Dedication
- This is for Nancy and Bo Hagan
- First words
- This is the farmer that sowed the corn that
kept the cock that cowed in the morn....
Matthew wondered what he was doing here.
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- Members
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- 127,471
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.42)
- Languages
- 9 — Czech, Danish, English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 30
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 7
