Everything you need to understand or teach There Was a Little Girl by Evan Hunter.
There do not seem to be any overriding themes, like the decline of the city in the 87th Precinct series, which threads through the Matthew Hope books. More of the focus is on the personal desires and human failures of a few characters set against the background of the palmy Florida landscape.
With the tighter focus, however, McBain is able to probe more fully the psychology of his characters and to push more...