In the Midst of Death

Lawrence Block's Scudder is a wonderful character. He and his world are entirely believable. In fact, these are stories that could be an account of a real guy's experiences, which is not usually the case in hardboiled detective fiction.

This is a hard-drinking PI (without a license) who, later in the series, kicks the booze and starts attending AA meetings at whatever church/center is closest. If you've seen the movie with Liam Neeson, then you know why he quit the police force (accidentally kills a child, while apprehending two murderers) and that's also why he becomes a functioning alcoholic. He's a complex character who is tough, but not able to kick a roomful of ass, a good detective, but not able to solve mysteries without the show more necessary luck and clues... basically, a believable knight in tarnished armour.

This one involves a murdered dominatrix, a framed cop who is dirty as hell, but not a murderer, political dirty dealing, and just a little bit of (off camera) sex. Oh... and a hell of a lot of drinking.

"It was a hard morning. I swallowed some aspirin and went downstairs to the Red Flame for a lot of coffee. It helped a little. My hands were slightly shaky and my stomach kept threatening to turn over.
What I wanted was a drink. But I wanted it badly enough to know not to have it. I had things to do, places to go, people to see. So I stuck with the coffee."

I like the honesty of his struggle, and how it progresses through the series. show less

If, like I did, you started reading the Matthew Scudder series with some of the later books in the series where Scudder runs from AA meeting to AA meeting, it comes as a shock to delve into the early books in the series where he is actually rolling from bar to bar and often barely remembers his conversations from the previous night. Obviously, the bar-hopping life has to precede the AA meetings, but it gives the story a decidedly different feel.

You can pick up the Scudder novels in just about any order and be intrigued. For the most part, they are each independent books. Each one is a terrific detective novel. If you think these novels are going to be about a hardboiled detective with a fedora and a sexy secretary taking dictation, you show more will be quite surprised. Although derived from the hardboiled tradition, the Scudder books are different. Scudder is an old-fashioned detective who puts together little bits and pieces and figures things out by dogged work.

Scudder, if you did not know, is a former police officer. One night, off duty in a bar (where else would he be), he sees two guys hold up the joint and take out the bartender. Pursuing them outside, Scudder took them out, but a stray bullet from his gun ricocheted into the skull of a seven-year-old girl, ending her life. The shooting was found justified, but Scudder lost the desire for police work, the desire for his married life, and holed up in Hell’s Kitchen, doing favors for people in return for a few bucks. It is a dark period of his life and he literally tries to drown his troubles in booze.

“In The Midst Of Death” is a terrific detective story and certainly deserves five stars. An officer (Jerry Broadfield) has had it with graft and crooked double-dealings and has talked to a special prosecutor. No one on the NYPD has any love for him anymore and someone put a call girl up to alleging that Broadfield has been demanding weekly payments from her. Suddenly, the special prosecutor wants nothing to do with Broadfield and neither does anyone else. Scudder doesn’t like the guy, doesn’t like the fact he can’t tell when the guy is lying or not. He talks to the call girl, who is mesmerizing to him. When the call girl ends up slashed apart in Broadfield’s apartment, the whole world is ready to parade him up to the Attica and Scudder is about all Broadfield’s got. Scudder doesn’t think the crime makes any sense. Broadfield is way too smart to leave a dead body in his apartment. Scudder pokes around here and there, trying to figure out the connections, trying to figure out what went on.

The novel is perfectly paced and I, at least, found that it was hard to put down. It has a dark, hard feel to it, but it is not another remake of the classic hardboiled fedora-wearing detective. This is a novel with depth and substance to it and you can see how Block’s writing has matured.
Five stars for this one. show less

A lean, mean, hard-boiled detective novel.

WARNING: Once you pick it up you won't want to put it down until you're done.

A fun, satisfying crime story. This book wouldn't be out of place beside the best works of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler.

Matthew Scudder is a hard drinking ex-cop taking life as it comes near the fringes of society in New York City. He'd tell you that he's not a private detective. Private detectives do things like charge fees, keep records, and file tax returns -- Scudder doesn't do any of that. Instead he does "certain things for certain friends." Favors he calls them, and in return these certain friends might do him a favor... like give him money.

When Jerry Broadfield, a cop of questionable ethics who has show more decided to turn stool pigeon against the department, gets accused of extortion he needs help. Bad. Since it's not like he can go to the cops, they hate him, he reaches out to Matt Scudder. After some consideration Scudder reluctantly agrees to take the case even though he can't shake the feeling that Jerry Broadfield isn't being straight with him.

Then the key witness against Broadfield is murdered and the cops decide they needn't look any further than Jerry Broadfield himself for the murderer. Scudder doesn't buy the official version, he also doesn't completely buy Jerry Broadfield's version, but since he's on the case anyway he's going to stick with it until he finds out what there is to know. And he will find out!

This is the third novel in the Matthew Scudder series and it's one of the best -- some sources will list it as the second novel: It was written third but originally published second, so it may depend on when your copy was printed. It's a lean, riveting, fast paced example of the best of one of the modern masters in the private detective genre.

Shorter than most of Lawrence Block's other Matthew Scudder novels and as a result it focuses almost exclusively on the case. There isn't much in the way of Scudder's usual self-reflection or the more colorful characters that will generally turn up in the course of his investigations. This one is a pure example of the pulp fiction detective novel.

I had read this years ago, this and Eight Million Ways to Die were what got me hooked on the Scudder series in the first place, but in the years since I had forgotten how hard-boiled the early Scudder novels were compared to the more recent ones. It's like renewing an old friendship.

I can't recommend this book highly enough for anyone who likes a hard edged detective novel in the old pulp tradition. show less

As many have noted in reviews posted here, Block begins to really establish Scudder as a person rather than as an unlicensed detective. We get to see him grow in ways that we've yet to dive into. Between his shaky relationship with his ex-wife and kids, to his struggle with intimacy, to his budding alcohol addiction.

I feel a little crazy giving all these 5 star ratings to Block's books but they're really that good. They're tightly structure; they don't run on for the sake of running on. We're given what we need to know about a suspect, not what they had for breakfast 3 years ago on a Tuesday - I guess what I'm saying is the man knows how to edit a book.

I don't exactly know where to go from here. Supposedly, the series continues to get show more better and better. Damn you Goodreads for not establishing a rating system higher than 5 stars! show less

Firstly, to be clear, I love Lawrence Block's writing style - he is crisp, to the point, sometimes a bit shocking (more so in later books), and non-moralistic. His characters are flawed men who remain calm, cool and collected under pressure... all without any whining or "woe is me" behind it all. There is some mature language, but it is not gory or graphic.

This is the third book in a series about Matthew Scudder and was originally published in the mid-70s. Surprisingly, it doesn't have a dated feel, other than the references to pay phones and NY City rents. I have read the series to book 7 but this was the first one that I listened to in audio. The story was as good as I expected, and the narration was well-done. My only note was that show more the narrator didn't have the voice I expected Matthew to have after reading so many books about him... this isn't a negative thing though, it was just a bit surprising.

If you've read others in this series, you will find that Scudder is his typical self and the story is written in Block's typical style. There is no preaching and the resolution is quick and to the point. If you haven't read the others, but like Lee Child's Jack Reacher series, you will probably like this one too. The books stand alone, but the main character is developed over time, so it might be best to start the Scudder series as close to the beginning as you can. show less

First line:
~ October is about as good as the city gets~

This, the third book in the Matt Scudder series, moves us along in getting to know Scudder, a skilled, private investigator. If you have read my reviews of Book 1 and Book 2 The Sins of the Fathers and Time to Murder and Create you will know that I am more interested in the development of Scudder than in the actual mystery that he solves. Having said that, I always find Block’s stories keep my attention to the end.

In this book, Scudder investigates on behalf of a policeman who has been framed for a murder he did not commit.

And as he investigates we get more insight into Scudder and how he lives his life, on the edges of skid row. His struggles with alcoholism continue. His show more denial has been solid. A new friend who is an alcoholic suggests he might be one also and at one point Scudder finds himself outside a meeting. However, he leaves without going in. We can see that he is beginning to question whether or not he can ‘take it or leave it’ as he often maintains.

I am on to the next one as soon as I can get it from the library.

3.5 stars show less

This was a little more disjointed than the first installment (or maybe it was the way I read it). I am still not sure how I am supposed to take the ending. Scudder gets a cop on the take off a murder charge partly by exploring the realities of a type of higher end prostitution and partly by having good contacts in the neighborhood (some of which appeared in the first book (gay barkeep)). The police do not come off too well.