In the Midst of Death (Matt Scudder Mystery, #3) (Atlantic Large Print Books) (Matthew Scudder Mysteries)

by Lawrence Block

This time hard-drinking ex-cop Matt Scudder is roped in to an NYPD internal investigation that has ended up with one detective in the slammer on a murdre rap. Jerry is as clean as the world would like him to be although Matt isn't too sure, after all, he was only keen to dish the dirt on his former colleagues as a way of saving his own skin when caught on the take.

• ISBN10: 0709173156
• ISBN13: 9780709173151
• Publish Date: 9 August 1979
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 16 June 1999
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: The Crowood Press Ltd
• Imprint: Robert Hale Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 176
• Language: English

Reviews

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

Private investigator Matt Scudder is back. This time he is on the case for NYPD cop Jerry Broadfield. While Broadfield was never going to be known as a pillar of society he was (mostly) an honest cop. But he seems to have rattled a few cages, mainly from the crook cops on the force. Now he is being set up.

Because The Sins of the Fathers was so short and I enjoyed it so much I went right into In the Midst of Death. Something I never do and that is normally because I never like to get entrenched in an author or a genre, so I always mix it up. But also because I find there are small elements that can become repetitive if you go from one book in a series to the next. While this is book three (which I originally thought was book two) Lawrence Block covers the same important information about Matthew Scudder; which is good for people reading out of order but jumping straight into this one after the first book, it felt more like a copy/paste job.

Unlicensed Private investigator is truly shaping into a great character and even though I’ve read two books in the series so quickly and one after the other, I still want to read more, which is a real testament to Lawrence Block’s writing skills. I love Scudder’s cynical attitude and his reluctance to work; he is truly a great hard-boiled protagonist in the making.

Corruption is a tricky game and while you are meant to hate Jerry Broadfield it is interesting the way Scudder goes about this case. While this was not as strong as The Sins of the Fathers, it still worked really well. I want more insights into the psyche of Scudder because I really think there is something dark waiting to come out. After my second Block novel, I’m starting to see just why he is respected as a modern pulp author and he is quickly becoming a favourite.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/03/14/book-review-in-the-midst-of-death/

[ibeforem]

I liked this soooooooo much more than When the Sacred Ginmill Closes. I like how Block doesn’t really narrate the story… he lets the characters tell you what’s going on through the dialogue. There’s no futzing around with pages of background story and set-up. The book does show its age at some points, with mentions of $20/week rent (in New York City!?) and Scudder’s reliance on pay phones, but it’s easy enough to look past. I guessed the bad guy, but not long before Scudder did. A nice, quick read.