Defense Attorney Matthew Hope believes eccentric Mary Barton is innocent of murdering and burying three young girls in her lush garden. Although the evidence is overwhelming, Hope is willing to unearth long-buried secrets to gain an acquittal. The prolific McBain (of 87th Precinct Fame) continues his bestselling nursery rhyme crime series. "Nobody can read more menace into nursery rhymes than Ed McBain".--New York Times.