Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block is a crime writer whose long-running series combine mystery with conscience, addiction, professional craft, and the changing streets of New York. In the Midst of Death follows Matthew Scudder through a case in which corruption and private compromise blur the usual lines of guilt. Eight Million Ways to Die places Scudder's struggle with alcohol beside a murder investigation, making recovery part of the book's moral pressure. When the Sacred Ginmill Closes looks backward at friendship, violence, and the stories people tell about a vanished city. A Walk Among the Tombstones gives the series one of its darkest pursuits while preserving attention to consequence rather than spectacle. Burglars Can't Be Choosers introduces Bernie Rhodenbarr, whose lighter criminal ingenuity offers a counterpoint to Scudder. In the Midst of Death opens the serious series well; Burglars Can't Be Choosers reveals Block's comic timing.