The sins of the fathers (Original 1976; 1991. Auflage)

They’re all damaged goods—the Private Investigators, that is, aren’t they? Matthew Scudder’s cross to bear is as tragic as it was unavoidably accidental. So, now he’s a hard-drinking former NYC detective who makes ends meet by doing “favors” for folks who show their appreciation with “gifts,” so he can avoid the whole official P.I. stereotype. In this case, it’s a father trying to make sense of his daughter’s death and the suicide of the boy who lived with her and brutally murdered her. As Scudder methodically unravels the mysteries of the “why” for the father, he discovers the open-and-shut case holds other mysteries that he judicially deals with in the end. A good, gritty noir story that doesn’t follow the usual paths. ( )

Matt Scudder is a definite son-of-a-bitch, when he needs to be. He lives in a dark, twisted world where cops are dirty because... well... because that's the way it is. When he was a cop he believed that, if someone gave you money, you took it. Only a sap wouldn't. In this novel, when he was feeling sh*tty, he acted like a mark until someone tried to mug him, just so he could beat the guy down. And then he robbed the mugger, for good measure.

Not much actually happens in this one. It's a straight forward investigation. He's hired... well, no. He's not a private investigator, he doesn't have a license. What he does is, he does favours for people and they give him "thank you" gifts. Like a high-priced call girl. So in this story, he "does a favour" for a man, tracking down the information to be able to provide this man with an explanation, a description, of what his wayward daughter had been like, before she was murdered. A snapshot of her life and what led up to her death. In the process, he does that and more. In the process, he ends up finding out that some whores actually do have hearts of gold. And some other people are just plain sh*t.

Scudder lives in a dark, dirty, nasty world. And it's not that world that makes him interesting. In fact, I don't think that world is what makes any hard-boiled detective fiction worth reading. It's the lens we see it through. Our tour guide. Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe, Nick Charles, Matt Scudder... it's these men who give us a unique perspective on those dark corners of big city life.

I enjoy Scudder's perspective. By logical extension, I enjoy Lawrence Block's perspective.

Good book. Well worth the read. ( )

Another chip off the old Block. I love 'em. ( )

Wow. That was great. The 1970s lend themselves perfectly to noir now. Gritty old NYC. What a magnificent disaster. Scudder is perfect as a part of the old NYC. I can't wait to start the next one in this series. ( )

Another chip off the old Block. I love 'em. ( )