When I picked up this book, I hadn't realized that it was written 30 years ago. It was sort of nostalgic to hear about the days of ten cent phone calls, the days when smoking in bars and restaurants was still allowed, disco music, pay phones vs. cell phones, and the sad state of New York City during the late 1970's and early 1980's. Beyond that, there were two elements which the book dealt with. One, the ongoing fight to stay sober by the alcoholic private investigator Matt Scudder, and second, his criminal investigation into the murder of a call-girl.
His investigation led nowhere initially, with dead-ends and a series of apparently unrelated facts. Ultimately, much like Perry Mason episodes of old, Scudder gets a sudden enlightened moment, and pulls it all together, solving the crime, and also finally coming to grips with his alcoholism. ( )

A fine detective mystery. ( )

Matthew Scudder is a fascinating character! Can't wait to see what happens next. ( )

Since I discovered Lawrence Block a few years ago I’ve read a lot of his novels and was a bit surprised to find I haven’t reviewed one yet. Eight Million Ways to Die is the fifth in the Matt Scudder series. It’s one of my favourites and the audiobook is narrated by the man himself!

I must admit I approached it with some trepidation. Which of us hasn’t sat through a live author reading on a hard seat with a fixed grin, as they mumble and shuffle their papers, longing for it to end so we can get to the bar? Often authors aren’t great performers and can’t project the music that’s in their head. In this case, though, Block did something more. His prose is very distinctive and he captured the rhythm and the downbeat mood just as I heard it in my head.

Scudder is a rootless former cop turned unlicensed investigator, living in a cheap motel. A prostitute called Kim wants to leave her pimp but is afraid to tell him, so she enlists Scudder’s help. The first thing Scudder has to do is find the enigmatic man, who is known only as Chance and appears to have no regular routine or social circle. When Kim is murdered, Scudder feels that he failed her and is determined to find her killer.

While the Scudder novels are firmly rooted in New York, many have a timeless quality to them. Often the only thing that reminds me they are not contemporary is the technology (in the early books Scudder spends a lot of time feeding dimes into payphones). Eight Million Ways to Die was first published in 1982 and it vividly portrays that period in New York’s history, when crime was out of hand, the news was full of senseless killings, and danger felt both ubiquitous and unavoidable.

Against this backdrop, Scudder is trying to fashion a new life for himself, one where he knows what is right and manages to do it. Drink and bars have always been a big part of Scudder’s story, but this is the first book in the series where he acknowledges his alcoholism.

At the centre of the crime and chaos of the city, the case and his attendance at AA give him a kind of structure and safety. The stories from the newspapers and from the people he questions in his investigation are interspersed with the stories from the people at AA meetings, though Scudder is not yet ready to share his own.

For me this is one of the most atmospheric Scudder novels and hearing it read by the author makes it even more special. It resonates today. The cacophony of headlines threatening to overwhelm Scudder are like the continual intrusive beeps and tweets of social media.

Scudder tells a man at AA that he is struggling to cope with all the bad news in the papers. The man suggests he just stops reading them.
*
This review first appeared on my blog katevane.com/blog ( )

This might be my favorite of the Scudder series. A typical one starts strong, with a re-introduction to the characters, careful observations of New York, and solid, human dialog. But then most of the stories fall a little flat halfway through, overcome by the bland, formulaic mystery plot. This stays strong throughout. The characters start strong, and continue developing all the way through, with Scudder struggling in particular with his alcoholism, but learning how to handle it. The plot also stays compelling, with a good mix of detective work (interview after interview) and action. (The mystery's resolution is telegraphed far in advance, but I didn't mind.) ( )