A Dance at the Slaughterhouse (Matt Scudder Mystery) - Softcover

Lawrence Block

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1857970659 ISBN 13: 9781857970654

Publisher: ORION MASS MARKET PAPERBACK, 1994

Synopsis

The 9th breakneck thriller in the Matt Scudder series, from a master of the genre.To Matt Scudder, no one can rise above the law.But when the ex-cop is privately hired to investigate the murder of a beautiful pregnant woman, he finds himself pushed to the limits of his beliefs. With every step he takes, Scudder discovers darker and more depraved secrets. Human trafficking, snuff films, murderous fetishes: the light of humanity seems all but extinguished.In the seedy underworld of New York City, nothing is sacred and anything can be bought.

About this title

Review:

Matt Scudder, the recovering alcoholic private eye from The Devil Knows You're Dead and A Ticket to the Boneyard, embarks on another descent into the nightmarish quarters of New York, this time to investigate the sex-for-sale industry. Hired by the brother of an heiress to investigate her rape and murder, Scudder tails her husband to a boxing match and notices another man whom he saw on video a few months earlier on a different case involving a snuff film. As Scudder calls on old friends for assistance and tours New York's dark physical and social landscapes, Block masterfully builds the pressure that leads Scudder to the violent resolution in this winner of the 1992 Edgar Award for best mystery novel.

From the Back Cover:

There is no accolade or major mystery award that has not already been bestowed upon LAWRENCE BLOCK. His acclaimed crime novels are as intelligent, provocative, and emotionally complex as they are nerve-tighteningly intense. And perhaps the most respected of his myriad works are the Matthew Scudder books -- masterworks of suspenseful invention featuring a remarkable protagonist rich in conscience and character, with all the flaws that his humanity entails. This is the detective novel as high art.

In Matt Scudder's mind, money, power, and position elevate nobody above morality and the law. Now the ex-cop and unlicensed p.i. has been hired to prove that socialite Richard Thurman orchestrated the brutal murder of his beautiful, pregnant wife. During Scudder's hard drinking years, he left a piece of his soul on every seedy corner of the Big Apple. But this case is more depraved and more potentially devastating than anything he experienced while floundering in the urban depths. Because this investigation is leading Scudder on a frightening grand tour of New York's sex-for-sale underworld -- where an innocent young life is simply a commodity to be bought and perverted...and then destroyed.

About this edition

• Publisher: ORION MASS MARKET PAPERBACK
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 1857970659
• ISBN 13: 9781857970654
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320