The Devil Knows You're Dead

When Yuppie lawyer Glenn Holtzmann sits in his penthouse gazing at the setting sun, he little imagines that within half an hour he will be dead. Everyone believes it to be a clear-cut case, but Scudder isn't convinced that the evidence or the victim are what they seem.

The winner of multiple Edgar, Shamus, and Maltese Falcon awards, Mystery Writers of America Grand Master LAWRENCE BLOCK has elevated the detective novel to high art -- combining grit with intelligence, suspense with stunning emotional complexity and power. And in unlicensed private investigator Matthew Scudder, he has created a character whose depth and stark humanity is unrivaled in contemporary fiction.

In this city, there is little sense and no rules. Those who fly the highest often come crashing down the hardest -- like successful young Glenn Holtzmann, randomly blown away by a deranged derelict at a corner phone booth on Eleventh Avenue. Unlicensed p.i. Matt Scudder thinks Holtzmann was simply in the wrong place at the worst time. Others think differently -- like Thomas Sadecki, brother of the crazed Vietnam vet accused of the murder, who wants Scudder to prove the madman innocent. But no one is truly innocent in this unmerciful metropolis -- including Matthew Scudder, whose curiosity and dedication are leading him to dark, unexplored places in his own heart...and to passions and revelations that could destroy everything he loves.