In the Midst of Death [Paperback]

Lawrence Block (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: New York: Dell; First Edition edition (1976)
• ASIN: B000ETKEVW
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A short but engaging early Scudder novel, April 22, 2001

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Midst of Death (Matthew Scudder Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Lawrence Block's early Matthew Scudder novels are considerably shorter and less complex than later entries in the series. Scudder was still drinking during this time period and here he makes his first acknowledgement that it might be getting out of control. The plot is intriguing, a dirty cop begins cooperating with an anti-corruption probe and is framed for murder. Scudder must answer two questions who did the frame up and why did the cop suddenly decide to become a rat? "In the Midst of Death" is one of the bleaker entires in the Scudder series both in terms of its outcome and for what happens in Scudder's personal life. It is not an essential entry in the series, but it is a good one.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good, but not up to Block's normal high standard., May 5, 2000

By 

Gary Jonas "author of Modern Sorcery" (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Midst of Death (Matthew Scudder Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

With this book, the third in the Matthew Scudder series, Scudder is hired by a crooked cop named Jerry Broadfield, who decides to grab a bit of the limelight by exposing corruption in the police department. Problem: a hooker Broadfield was seeing turns up dead in his apartment. The police won't do much to investigate, of course, because Broadfield betrayed the badge. That leaves Scudder to go after the killer.

It's a good book, but it doesn't measure up to the high standards set by other volumes in the series. Part of this is because there's not enough focus on the characters. Seems strange to type that about Lawrence Block, who normally writes great characters. This time around it feels like he wasn't sure where he wanted to go with the series, so Matt is the same at the end of the book as he was at the beginning. He's simply there to go through the motions and solve the crime.

However, even on Block's worst day, he's better than most writers on their best day. So the book will still entertain you and it's worth reading. Just don't expect to be blown away this time.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The series is starting to take off, September 4, 2001

By 

Tom Bruce (East Moriches, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Midst of Death (Matthew Scudder Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

For for the first time in the Matt Scudder series -- now three books long -- the word "alcoholic" rears its ugly head; it's not uttered by Matt, but suggested by a questioning friend. And Matt is full of denial: he can stop anytime he wants, he doesn't drink that much, it doesn't interfere with his capabilities. But, during the solving of this mystery, Matt's seldom far from his last or next drink, he's already suffering blackouts, and he made several tactical, and possibly deadly, errors because of a brain fogged by burbon and coffee. But in between his repeated toss-backs, we have another tight little mystery: This time his client is a cop on the take who gets too greedy and is set up to appear to have killed a hooker. And we get to meet some original and intriguing characters: like Doug Furhman, a character that would be perfect for the acting talents of the late Elisha Cook, Jr., and Kenny the owner of Sinthia's, a gay Village bar. Elaine, the call girl, is back from the first book with a more substantial role in this tale. And there's the client's wife with whom Matt has fling, thankfully alluded to, not given a full desription by Block. And Matt keeps the affair going by feeding her the lines she wants to hear, or could it be that he is so desperately lonely that he really means them and it is her that is stringing his emotions along? It's a dirty big city, but I'm glad Matt lives there and Lawrence Block takes us along with him on his adventures.