Lawrence Block is an extremely famous author so I don’t think we need to deep dive into him as a writer. Quick fun fact I did find though; he attended Antioch College which is a prestigious liberal art school located in Yellow Springs, Ohio which is fifteen minutes from me and is walking distance from Dark Star Books and Comics which is one of our favorite spots. Most notable alumni of Antioch college, among others include Rod Serling and Mr. Spock himself, Leanord Nimoy. I tried finding out what years Lawrence Block attended but to no avail. He did publish his first story in 1950 though and Rod Serling graduated Antioch College in 1950 so I’m just going to assume they were there at the same time and were roommates. The end.
In the Midst of Death is the third entry in the Matthew Scudder series. They are all stand alones. I don’t believe you need to read them in any specific order.
Backstory. Matthew Scudder was a cop. In the pursuit of a bad guy, he fired his gun. The bullet went through a wall and killed a little girl. Scudder quits his job, abandons his family, lives in a motel and binge drinks constantly. He will take odd jobs of the detective nature when they fall in his lap.
He takes a job from a cop named Broadfield, whom he did not know when he was on the force. There is a high-priced call girl bringing him up on (supposed) fraudulent charges of blackmailing her. Scudder needs to get her to drop the charges. Broadfield is turning on his fellow officers for a little tattletale cash in the form of a (hopeful) book deal. Seems like a pretty big risk to turn in your friends and fellow coworkers for but the guy is a reckless narcissist. Also, he’s on the take more than anyone so he’s a hypocrite to boot. This makes him none too popular with everyone. So, it seems that someone has hired the woman to file the claim to get Broadfield to shut his mouth. Scudder makes contact. Notices there is something deeper going on. Has a chat. Goes to a bar. Gets contacted to meet Broadfield in jail.
After just a few hours of Scudder speaking with her, the call girl’s stabbed body has been found in Broadfield’s apartment and now he is up for murder. He hands Scudder a grip of cash and asks him to solve the mystery. It’s most likely a cop but who? Broadfield has made hundreds of enemies. Scudder’s cop buddy comes to talk him out of doing the job. Broadfield may not have really done it but the force doesn’t care. No one is looking into the murder. Scudder is like, a job’s a job and we all know he didn’t do it and that aint right.
He then proceeds to investigate and get drunk. Holy beer bong batman. Much like the private dick stories of old he drinks from the moment he wakes up until bedtime. Unlike those stories he actually gets drunk. It’s a little too realistic for me and as someone who has been there, pretty dang depressing. I’m sure it’s to grime up the ambience. I tell you what though, after a certain amount of drinks you don’t give a fuck about anything let alone still solving murders. Also, the hangovers this guy would have would be crippling not just, I have a headache and need some water. I’m talking whole day hangovers on the couch under a blanket with the lights off.
The mystery is suspenseful though. It’s so obvious it’s a cop who did it that it’s obviously not a cop. We meet nefarious characters of the odd variety. Think Norman Bates instead of Al Capone. I think with a little deduction on your part you might be able to figure out the whodunnit before Scudder. I definitely figured out the WHY but missed the who until the reveal. It’s medium paced mystery. It probably would have upped the gears had we not been sloshed the entire time. There is some sad panda pity party moments where I’m just thinking, go to fucking AA already dude. Ha. But then while researching this for the review it seems at some point he does, so that’s good. Ok, I’m talking about him like he’s a real person now so that tells you Block did his job well. Great stuff and I love the look on these Avon era editions. It reminds me of 80’s slasher film covers. They didn’t recreate classic era paperback art but did something new and different and it works.
Originally published: 1976
This edition: Avon 1992
Review by: Nick Anderson
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