ED McBAIN – Gladly the Cross-Eyed Bear. Matthew Hope #12. Warner, hardcover, 1996; paperback, 1998.

   The [previous] Hope novel, There Was a Little Girl, ended on something of an uncertain note, and I was interested to see where and if McBain would go from there with the series. Though one of the [earlier] books — Mary, Mary — was just about as bad as they come, on the whole I’ve enjoyed [them]. Neat title on this one, too.

   Gladly, the optically-challenged ursine, is a toy invented and patented by Hope’s young lady client. The problem is that her previous employers, a toy designing and making firm, are marketing a very similar toy. She’s suing, and they’re counter-suing, and who knows what the judge will decide?

   That all fades into the background when one of the legal antagonists gets messily murdered, and Hope’s client is charged with the crime. Did Hope, recently emerged from a five-month coma, doesn’t think so, but proving it is another story. Particularly so because the story his client tells keeps changing, and never for the better.

   McBain nearly always writes like the seasoned, best-selling professional he is, and that’s the case here. There is a dab of courtroom (all connected with the patent case), some investigation, a tad of Hope’s personal problems, a little danger, and it’s all mixed into a very readable and enjoyable book.

   Taken separately, none of the elements are anything special, and in the hands of a less accomplished writer, it would have been an average read at best; but McBain is McBain, and that do make a difference.