A Dance at the Slaughterhouse

I was up until 2am reading this, frustrated with my sleepiness. I started reading again with my coffee this morning. I just couldn't stop.

The central plot seems a bit silly now because we know that there were no murderous satanic cults sacrificing babies at Day Care Centers, the chick from Cannibal Holocaust is still alive and well, Guinea Pig was done with special effects, etc. It all became sickeningly real with the advent of the Internet and easy/cheap digital recording, but in the late '80s it was nothing but an urban legend.

But, child exploitation and pornography was a nasty little problem then (and now), Block got that exactly right and it was enough to hold the central premise of the book.

I usually dislike it when authors throw show more two plots together and try to make them stick. Most authors do this poorly and it just seems lazy. Block did it brilliantly by keeping the focus of Scudder's investigation within a small part of the city and within the same profession. That made it believable. Working in NYC is the same as working anywhere else—everybody knows, or has heard of, everyone else. Names, faces, and resumes float around in a limited area and people's names live on the edge of your memory and the tip of your tongue. (This was even true when I was in social work in NYC.)

The same is true for people who live in your neighborhood, especially if you see them every day.

So, I was really impressed with the way that Block pulled this book together.

I am absolutely loving this series. I just can't stop reading. show less

This was surprisingly good, and I kept laughing out loud. Some of the conversations between Scudder and his cop friend, discussing the case, are freaking hilarious. It has nothing to do with a slaughterhouse, it has to do with an ex NYC detective looking to prove that a husband killed his wife. His, the husband's story, was that they walked in on a burglary, hit the husband and wife, tied them up and raped and killed the wife. But she had money, and a hefty life insurance policy. Along the way, Scudder runs into a pair who create and execute snuff pornography videos, and he wonders if he can possibly tie the two cases together. I'll be reading more of this series.

A Dance At The Slaughterhouse" is the ninth novel in Block's Matthew Scudder series. It is a finely tuned piece of work and, in it, Scudder meets people so twisted and so evil even he is shocked. You would think that there was nothing left to surprise this battle-hardened man, but there are things people do to each other for amusement and power games that is just truly evil. And, often, the most evil ones are the most charming and the most seductive.

At this point in the series, Scudder has given up drinking, but not given up hanging in bars. In particular, he hangs out with the giant butcher Mick Ballou, shoots the breeze with him, and attends mass with him in the early morning hours. Scudder has a steady lady friend now and attends show more meetings all the time.

The opening scene with the boxing match works tremendously well and captures the atmosphere of the match and the way you look around the audience.

There are parts of this book that are quite graphic and will make some readers very uncomfortable, but there's a point to it and it's that Scudder is uncomfortable too. show less

Murderous Scudder
Review of the LB Productions eBook (October 4, 2020) of the original William Morrow & Co. hardcover (1991).

Someone had passed along a paperback volume called The Newgate Calendar*, a case-by-case report on British crimes of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. I’d had it around for a month or so, and at night I would read a few pages before I went to sleep. It was mostly interesting, although some cases were more interesting than others. What got to me some nights, though, was the way nothing changed. People back then killed each other for every reason and for no reason, and they did it with every means at their disposal and all the ingenuity they could bring to bear.

I'm just past the midpoint in my re-survey of show more Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder series and now I remember that this one was the noirest of them all. A disturbing descent into the world of underground snuff films where Scudder become judge, jury and executioner. The quality of the writing is as compelling as ever, but the content comes with a warning.

Of greater interest was the building of the increased cast of Scudder associates with the addition of street smart kid TJ to the mix who plays only a minor role, but will continue to return. Meanwhile albino informant Danny Boy Bell, criminal bar owner Mick Ballou and girlfriend Elaine make their regular appearances. Scudder continues to maintain his sobriety with regular AA meetings. Mick Ballou with his father's butcher's apron and his regular attendance at the morning butcher's mass leaves an indelible impression.

See cover at https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/...
Front cover of the original 1991 William Morrow & Co. hardcover edition. Image sourced from Goodreads.

Footnote
* Can't be sure if it is the 1962 paperback that Scudder has in hand, but if so the full title would be "The Newgate Calendar or Malefactors' Bloody Register containing: Genuine and Circumstantial Narrative of the lives and transactions, various exploits and Dying Speeches of the Most Notorious Criminals of both sexes who suffered Death Punishment in Gt. Britain and Ireland for High Treason, Petty Treason, Murder, Piracy, Felony, Thieving, Highway Robberies, Forgery, Rapes, Bigamy, Burglaries, Riots, and various other horrid crimes and misdemeanours on a plan entirely new, wherein will be fully displayed the regular progress from virtue to vice interspersed with striking reflexions on the conduct of those unhappy wretches who have fallen a sacrifice to the laws of their country." Various anthology editions of The Newgate Calendar (c. 1750-onwards) exist which collect the original monthly bulletins.

Trivia and Links
I read a considerable number of Lawrence Block books in my pre-GR and pre-reviewing days. Probably 40 or so out of the 100+ that are available. That included all of the Matt Scudder books, several of the Bernie Rhodenbarrs, several of the Evan Tanners, several of the John Kellers, a dozen or so standalones and some of the memoirs. There were even a few of the earlier pulp novels which were originally published under pseudonyms. This re-read is a look back at some of those.

Lawrence Block (June 24, 1938 - ) considers himself retired these days, but still maintains an occasional newsletter with the latest issued in August 2024. He self-publishes some of his earlier works that have otherwise gone out of print, using his own LB Productions imprint such as this current eBook edition for A Dance at the Slaughterhouse. show less

This almost feels like a sequel to “Eight Million Ways to Die”, the fifth book in this series! I like this one more! It moves more quickly, is darker, and has a good ending!

In this one, Scudder is hired to find out if a man killed his wife and staged it to look like burglars did it.
And then there’s the snuff film.
The two cases intertwining seemed like a big stretch plot wise. Seriously, what would the odds be of that happening? Author’s privilege, but unrealistic.

Big fan of Mick and his cleaver! And his bloody apron.

“It seems to me when two people want something to stay the way it is, that’s when it changes.”

“They say you can’t stare at an eclipse of the sun with your naked eye. You have to look through a piece of show more smoked glass to save your vision. Isn’t it dangerous to see life straight on? And don’t you need this smoky stuff to make it safe to look at?”

“Uh-huh. What happens next?”
“Stay tuned,” I said. “Don’t change the channel.” show less

It's funny, this book started out as a boxing book and I almost dropped it right there. Then chapter two came along and I was hooked.

Prominent attorney Richard Thurman and his wife are brutally attacked following an evening out as they arrive home in their apartment. She is raped and beaten, he is robbed and knocked unconscious. Upon reviving, he discovers his hands are bound, mouth taped and his wife dead on the floor. He manages to knock over a lamp and his pipe-cleaning tool with which he pokes 911 on the phone. Clearly a murder and robbery, right?

Well, Lyman, the victim's brother isn't so sure. He thinks Richard murdered his sister and he hires Matt Scudder to find out what really happened. Lyman also thinks that, like himself, show more Richard was gay and deep in the closet.

This is NOT a book for people who like cozies. There are some very nasty people who do some really evil stuff. But it's certainly a page-turner. show less

I'm not sure why I've never read any of Lawrence Block's books before, since his name has been familiar almost since I started reading mysteries. This is one of the Matt Scudder novels. Scudder is an unlicensed private eye, ex-cop, recovering alcoholic deep into the Program; his apparent best friend is a real hard guy who's into a lot of illegal activities and his girlfriend is a callgirl. Needless to say he lives in New York (where else?) I would almost say I enjoyed this book in spite of myself, so it must be the writing. It starts out with a long description of a boxing match, continues into some really kinky stuff including a snuff film, and there is plenty of moral ambiguity to go around. Not having read the earlier books in the show more series I'm not sure why it was this one that won the Edgar, but it certainly was deserving. I'm just not sure I want to spend much more time in Scudder's world. show less