The Lost Cases of Ed London [Hardcover]

Lawrence Block (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 27, 2001

SIGNED, NUMBERED EDITION

Lawrence Block, creator of private eye Matthew Scudder and burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, is one of the major figures in the modern mystery story, and a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America.

But back in 1960, when he was still in his 20's, Block was trying to invent a series character. He had been hired to write a TV tie-in for a series called Markham, but he decided that the story was too good to waste on someone else's characters, and he turned the novel into the first of a series of Ed London, private eye.

Or at least he hoped it would be the first of a series. Block never completed another book about Ed London, but during 1962 and 1963 he published three novelettes about the character for Man's Magazine. Given the magazine that published them, the tales were filled not only with gunmen but also with stag-party girls — and Larry Block's expert storytelling.

When Block's early stories were collected as One Night Stands, the Ed London tales could not be found. In fact, the author was certainly that he had written one of them, thought that he might have done a second, and forgotten all about the third.

Here then, for the first time in book form, are the lost cases of Lawrence Block's first private eye—pipe-smoking, courvoisier-drinking, Mozart-loving but ultra-tough operative, Ed London.

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION

Product Details

• Hardcover: 182 pages
• Publisher: Crippen & Landru, Publishers (December 27, 2001)
• ISBN-10: 1885941676
• ISBN-13: 978-1885941671
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,998,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lawrence Block (b. 1938) is the recipient of a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and an internationally renowned bestselling author. His prolific career spans over one hundred books, including four bestselling series as well as dozens of short stories, articles, and books on writing. He has won four Edgar and Shamus Awards, two Falcon Awards from the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan, the Nero and Philip Marlowe Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of the United Kingdom. In France, he has been awarded the title Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice received the Societe 813 trophy.

Born in Buffalo, New York, Block attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Leaving school before graduation, he moved to New York City, a locale that features prominently in most of his works. His earliest published writing appeared in the 1950s, frequently under pseudonyms, and many of these novels are now considered classics of the pulp fiction genre. During his early writing years, Block also worked in the mailroom of a publishing house and reviewed the submission slush pile for a literary agency. He has cited the latter experience as a valuable lesson for a beginning writer.

Block's first short story, "You Can't Lose," was published in 1957 in Manhunt, the first of dozens of short stories and articles that he would publish over the years in publications including American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and the New York Times. His short fiction has been featured and reprinted in over eleven collections including Enough Rope (2002), which is comprised of eighty-four of his short stories.

In 1966, Block introduced the insomniac protagonist Evan Tanner in the novel The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep. Block's diverse heroes also include the urbane and witty bookseller--and thief-on-the-side--Bernie Rhodenbarr; the gritty recovering alcoholic and private investigator Matthew Scudder; and Chip Harrison, the comical assistant to a private investigator with a Nero Wolfe fixation who appears in No Score, Chip Harrison Scores Again, Make Out with Murder, and The Topless Tulip Caper. Block has also written several short stories and novels featuring Keller, a professional hit man. Block's work is praised for his richly imagined and varied characters and frequent use of humor.

A father of three daughters, Block lives in New York City with his second wife, Lynne. When he isn't touring or attending mystery conventions, he and Lynne are frequent travelers, as members of the Travelers' Century Club for nearly a decade now, and have visited about 150 countries.