Time to Murder and Create (Matthew Scudder) [Kindle Edition]

Lawrence Block (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is the third of Block's superb Matt Scudder series to appear (it was first issued by Dell in paperback back in 1977), and its return now in hardcover from Dark Harvest (which did the first, Sins of the Fathers , last year) is great news for admirers. The story is swift, complicated and elegant, and Kellerman gets it right when he says that the Scudder novels "are the best New York crime novels ever written." In this one Scudder, still in his drinking days, is paid by "Spinner" Jablon, a small-time hood, to hold an envelope for him, with instructions to open it only when he dies, and then do what's necessary. What's necessary turns out to be determining which of Jablon's three eminent blackmail victims did the little man in. One is a wealthy businessman who's been covering up for his teenage daughter, whose car killed a child; there's a society wife with a past in porn movies and prostitution; another is a candidate for governor with a taste for hurting small boys in sadistic sex. How Scudder finds out who had Jablon killed, and the sometimes tragic consequences of his investigation, provide the meat of this outstanding thriller, which moves effortlessly through sleazy bars, skyscraper suites and luxury hotels. The dialogue is, as always, dead on and rivetingly entertaining, and the atmosphere--Kellerman has it right again--is "wonderfully morose." Not to be missed.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Named after a line from Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock , this 1976 novel features Block's popular detective Matt Scudder. The plot finds Scudder investigating the death of a small-time hood who, knowing he was marked for death, paid Scudder in advance to solve his murder. All libraries where Block is popular will want to have this first hardcover edition, which also contains an introduction by fellow mystery writer Jonathan Kellerman.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 296 KB
• Publisher: HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000FC148K
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,831 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Second Scudder novel reads well., December 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Time to Murder and Create (Matthew Scudder) (Mass Market Paperback)

. Matthew Scudder is Lawrence Block's remarkable private investigator. He's a former NYPD detective who left the force after an accident left a child dead in a crossfire. Because he is unlicensed you can't "hire" him. Instead he does you a favor by taking your case and solving the crime. In exchange for the favor the client returns the favor by giving him some cash. Scudder is an alcoholic. Rarely do you find him without a drink in has hand or at one of has favorite watering holes. "Time to Murder and Create" is the second in a series of at least a dozen books in the Matthew Scudder Series. A petty thief, Jake Jablon, known as "the Spinner" because he's always spinning a silver dollar, is found murdered. Someone crashed in his skull and then dumped him in The New York's East River. Matt Scudder was hired in advance by Jablon to find his killer if he is killed. He knew someone was after him because he was blackmailing three people. Jablon hands Scudder and envelope containing information on the three. Scudder hides the envelope in his hotel room with the instructions not to open it until Jablon is dead. When it becomes known that he was dead Scudder's work begins. He examins the contents of the envelops and begins to visit all three victims of Jablon's blackmailing efforts. Scudder himself is in danger. The book makes citing reading and is very difficult to put down. The book originally appeared in paperback that makes it difficult to find in my public library system. After being a success a hard cover version of the book was published with mystery writer Jonathan Kellerman, another one of my favorite authors writing an introduction.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent early Lawrence Block Scudder mystery, December 20, 1998

By 

Emory T. Weldon "gerard k messy" (Jacksonville Florida USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Time to Murder and Create (Matthew Scudder) (Mass Market Paperback)

This was one of the earlier Scudder books by Lawrence Block and I read it as one of my first. I was most impressed and recommend it highly. Some of his books are better - the older ones are better than the newer efforts. This is early Scudder with just the right amount of alcohol comments and a hard core mystery which will delight the usual Lawrence Block fans.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bumbling along, August 30, 2001

By 

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

This review is from: Time to Murder and Create (Matthew Scudder) (Mass Market Paperback)

The second in this series of 14 mysteries, soon to be 15, finds our unlikely hero Matthew Scudder further along on his trek to alcoholism, mixed up in unsavory mahem, and trying to get by day to day. It's an interesting case: A blackmailer posthumously hires Matt to determine which of his three pidgeons killed him. So the quasi-detective sets himself up as the blackmailer's replacement to entice the murderer to strike at him so he can solve the case. Matthew, because his mind is becoming benumbed by booze or maybe he just isn't a very good detective, bumbles this case every step of the way, and comes to a less than satisfactory conclusion -- the type of ending only Block has the nerve to create. It's book noir at a higher level. The dialogue is terrific and true, the settings in Manhattan are recorded with exactness, it's a fine tale that kept me reading well into the night. One aspect I especially appreciated, Block didn't seem to feel he needed gratuitous foul language in this second in the series as he did in the first. The book is a great example of why the series is so popular.