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A review by paulabrandon
In the Midst of Death by Lawrence Block
4.0
Matthew Scudder is a former cop, now an unauthorised private detective of sorts, and he has been retained by cop Jerry Broadfield to help clear his name. A prostitute that accused Broadfield of extorting her has been found dead in his apartment, and Broadfield insists he has been framed. Broadfield had recently been to see a prosecutor, promising to give up the identities of all the corrupt cops he knows. So of course that would put a target on his back! Scudder is also sure of Broadfield's innocence, even if he doesn't like the guy, and sets out to unravel the conspiracy.
Good old-fashioned, simple noir private eye storytelling. All the characters introduced have a reason to be there. No words are wasted (the book is only 185 pages long), other than a dream sequence. But that may just be because I'm personally not a fan of dream sequences in books. The plot unfolds at a decent clip, and it was easy to follow what was going on. I liked that, this being the 70s, Scudder had to do a little more work to find out what he needed to know, rather than just being able to hop onto the internet and do a Google search! The only part of the story that didn't work for me was Scudder's dalliance with Broadfield's wife. It was a bit too tropey and corny. Otherwise, this was another winner from Block. I've yet to be disappointed by a Scudder book.
Good old-fashioned, simple noir private eye storytelling. All the characters introduced have a reason to be there. No words are wasted (the book is only 185 pages long), other than a dream sequence. But that may just be because I'm personally not a fan of dream sequences in books. The plot unfolds at a decent clip, and it was easy to follow what was going on. I liked that, this being the 70s, Scudder had to do a little more work to find out what he needed to know, rather than just being able to hop onto the internet and do a Google search! The only part of the story that didn't work for me was Scudder's dalliance with Broadfield's wife. It was a bit too tropey and corny. Otherwise, this was another winner from Block. I've yet to be disappointed by a Scudder book.