When the Sacred Ginmill Closes (1986)

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Every now and then I crave a good PI book, a mystery noir, some 'entertainment.' Lawrence Block has been a master of all these for decades now. I'd read a couple other of his Matt Scudder mysteries ten years or more ago and found them gripping, compelling, entertaining, and very well written. Scudder is, in many ways, that stock character in the PI genre, an ex-cop, an alcoholic, but with a strong moralistic streak. In this particular book, WHEN THE SACRED GINMILL CLOSES (title courtesy of a Dave Van Ronk song lyric), the alcoholic theme can be found on nearly any given page as Scudder prowls his seedy NYC neighborhoods laced with dozens of dark dives and bars, stopping in randomly for "a quick one," "a short one," "a bracer," etc. And the Christian, moralistic theme becomes evident with references to Judas and Jesus and maybe even Pontius Pilate, as a second-rate lawyer comments on a former client, "I wash my hands of him."

I'm guessing there have been a dozen or more Scudder books in the past thirty-plus years, and I'm betting they are all damn good reads. This one was. Block allows his character to change and mature; in other words he makes him real. He writes excellent characters, in fact. In the latest issue of The New Yorker (Jan 14, 2013) there is a short piece about an East Side meeting of some members of the Mystery Writers of America, Block apparently talked of "getting out of the business." He said, "I'm with Philip Roth. Who says writers can't retire?"

Well I suppose they can. But I'm probably speaking for a lot of mystery fans when I say that I hope Lawrence Block isn't quite ready to cover up his typewriter for the last time. He's too damn good. He'd be sorely missed. I'm sure this is not the last Block book I'll read. In the PI/mystery writer ranks, he's right up there with James Lee Burke. ( )

the book takes place in a bar... ( )

It was a bit more challenging than usual to have to put my brain into reverse for this story... the last time I saw Matt, he was struggling to stay sober and in this installment, he's still the drunken Matt. While the tone and setting will make you realize the story is a retrospective into Matt's life, I think it was after the halfway point in the book that the date of this story was positively identified as 1975 (though maybe I missed an earlier reference to the date).

I don't think this makes the story less good than the others but, normally, I read series books in order because I like to watch characters develop in order - a step back here was mildly confusing, but, that being said, it was a stronger "mystery" than many of the other Scudder books.

I think I might have figured out whodunnit just a bit earlier than Matt, but not so much that it felt too early.

Anyway, it's a great installment in the series, and while it doesn't advance Matt's current character, it does provide a decent mystery and a glimpse at why, exactly, Matt might want to try hard to stay sober. ( )

I do not like installments in a series that look back into the past of a previous installment. In Eight Million.., Scudder realizes he is an alcoholic and quit drinking. In this installment his is still drinking and it is the past. He solves the killing of one client's wife and the holdup of two bars (with two separate MOs). Good writing and entertaining. But I do not like retrospectives. ( )