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The Collected Mystery Stories
This omnibus edition contains 58 stories previously uncollected in the UK, plus 12 additional stories. The collection features many of Block's best-loved characters, including Matt Scudder (eight stories), Ehrengraf (nine stories), Chip Harrison (two stories) and Bernie Rhodenbarr (three stories).
754 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
About the author
Lawrence Block
744 books3,043 followersLawrence Block has been writing crime, mystery, and suspense fiction for more than half a century. He has published in excess (oh, wretched excess!) of 100 books, and no end of short stories.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., LB attended Antioch College, but left before completing his studies; school authorities advised him that they felt he’d be happier elsewhere, and he thought this was remarkably perceptive of them.
His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the late 1950s, was mostly in the field of midcentury erotica, an apprenticeship he shared with Donald E. Westlake and Robert Silverberg. The first time Lawrence Block’s name appeared in print was when his short story “You Can’t Lose” was published in the February 1958 issue of Manhunt. The first book published under his own name was Mona (1961); it was reissued several times over the years, once as Sweet Slow Death. In 2005 it became the first offering from Hard Case Crime, and bore for the first time LB’s original title, Grifter’s Game.
LB is best known for his series characters, including cop-turned-private investigator Matthew Scudder, gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, globe-trotting insomniac Evan Tanner, and introspective assassin Keller.
Because one name is never enough, LB has also published under pseudonyms including Jill Emerson, John Warren Wells, Lesley Evans, and Anne Campbell Clarke.
LB’s magazine appearances include American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Linn’s Stamp News, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and The New York Times. His monthly instructional column ran in Writer’s Digest for 14 years, and led to a string of books for writers, including the classics Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and The Liar’s Bible. He has also written episodic television (Tilt!) and the Wong Kar-wai film, My Blueberry Nights.
Several of LB’s books have been filmed. The latest, A Walk Among the Tombstones, stars Liam Neeson as Matthew Scudder and is scheduled for release in September, 2014.
LB is a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, and a past president of MWA and the Private Eye Writers of America. He has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times each, and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe and Philip Marlowe awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Diamond Dagger for Life Achievement from the Crime Writers Association (UK). He’s also been honored with the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Ink magazine and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement in the short story. In France, he has been proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice been awarded the Societe 813 trophy. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon and at book fairs and mystery festivals in France, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan. As if that were not enough, he was also presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana. (But as soon as he left, they changed the locks.)
LB and his wife Lynne are enthusiastic New Yorkers and relentless world travelers; the two are members of the Travelers Century Club, and have visited around 160 countries.
He is a modest and humble fellow, although you would never guess as much from this biographical note.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., LB attended Antioch College, but left before completing his studies; school authorities advised him that they felt he’d be happier elsewhere, and he thought this was remarkably perceptive of them.
His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the late 1950s, was mostly in the field of midcentury erotica, an apprenticeship he shared with Donald E. Westlake and Robert Silverberg. The first time Lawrence Block’s name appeared in print was when his short story “You Can’t Lose” was published in the February 1958 issue of Manhunt. The first book published under his own name was Mona (1961); it was reissued several times over the years, once as Sweet Slow Death. In 2005 it became the first offering from Hard Case Crime, and bore for the first time LB’s original title, Grifter’s Game.
LB is best known for his series characters, including cop-turned-private investigator Matthew Scudder, gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, globe-trotting insomniac Evan Tanner, and introspective assassin Keller.
Because one name is never enough, LB has also published under pseudonyms including Jill Emerson, John Warren Wells, Lesley Evans, and Anne Campbell Clarke.
LB’s magazine appearances include American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Linn’s Stamp News, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and The New York Times. His monthly instructional column ran in Writer’s Digest for 14 years, and led to a string of books for writers, including the classics Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and The Liar’s Bible. He has also written episodic television (Tilt!) and the Wong Kar-wai film, My Blueberry Nights.
Several of LB’s books have been filmed. The latest, A Walk Among the Tombstones, stars Liam Neeson as Matthew Scudder and is scheduled for release in September, 2014.
LB is a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, and a past president of MWA and the Private Eye Writers of America. He has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times each, and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe and Philip Marlowe awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Diamond Dagger for Life Achievement from the Crime Writers Association (UK). He’s also been honored with the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Ink magazine and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement in the short story. In France, he has been proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice been awarded the Societe 813 trophy. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon and at book fairs and mystery festivals in France, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan. As if that were not enough, he was also presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana. (But as soon as he left, they changed the locks.)
LB and his wife Lynne are enthusiastic New Yorkers and relentless world travelers; the two are members of the Travelers Century Club, and have visited around 160 countries.
He is a modest and humble fellow, although you would never guess as much from this biographical note.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 27, 2011
This book contains seventy-one short stories written by Lawrence Block--virtually all of the stories he had written through 1999, when the book appeared. The principal exception would be some of the Keller stories which had just been published in Hit Man.
There are several Matthew Scudder stories in the volume, all of which appear with other stories in The Night and The Music, which was released in 2011. The volume also includes a few stories featuring Chip Harrison, Bernie Rhodenbarr and Martin Ehrengraf, the dapper defense attorney whose clients are always innocent, simply by virtue of the fact that they are represented by Ehrengraf. Evan Tanner, Block's other series character apparently had not appeared in any short stories by the time this collection was published.
The bulk of the collection, though, consists of stories that do not feature any of Block's familiar characters and, like the others, they are uniformly entertaining. I particularly enjoyed "Like a Bone in the Throat," in which a man testifies against the killer who murdered his sister but then begins a correspondence with him once the killer has gone to prison. In "The Tulsa Experience," two brothers take a vacation to Oklahoma, which turns out to be more exciting than one might expect of the average Oklahoma vacation. "Like a Bug on a Windshield" will make anyone think twice before flipping off an obnoxious truck driver again.
Another of my favorites is "Three in the Side Pocket," in which a man walks into a bar and meets an attractive woman. Interesting and unexpected things follow. The same is true of virtually all of the characters and situations that Block has created in these stories. They originally appeared in a variety of places through the years and most are virtually impossible to find in the original sources. It's great to have them collected in this large volume and any fan of Lawrence Block will want to have this book in his or her collection.
There are several Matthew Scudder stories in the volume, all of which appear with other stories in The Night and The Music, which was released in 2011. The volume also includes a few stories featuring Chip Harrison, Bernie Rhodenbarr and Martin Ehrengraf, the dapper defense attorney whose clients are always innocent, simply by virtue of the fact that they are represented by Ehrengraf. Evan Tanner, Block's other series character apparently had not appeared in any short stories by the time this collection was published.
The bulk of the collection, though, consists of stories that do not feature any of Block's familiar characters and, like the others, they are uniformly entertaining. I particularly enjoyed "Like a Bone in the Throat," in which a man testifies against the killer who murdered his sister but then begins a correspondence with him once the killer has gone to prison. In "The Tulsa Experience," two brothers take a vacation to Oklahoma, which turns out to be more exciting than one might expect of the average Oklahoma vacation. "Like a Bug on a Windshield" will make anyone think twice before flipping off an obnoxious truck driver again.
Another of my favorites is "Three in the Side Pocket," in which a man walks into a bar and meets an attractive woman. Interesting and unexpected things follow. The same is true of virtually all of the characters and situations that Block has created in these stories. They originally appeared in a variety of places through the years and most are virtually impossible to find in the original sources. It's great to have them collected in this large volume and any fan of Lawrence Block will want to have this book in his or her collection.
July 21, 2020
No one writes a better mystery short story than Lawrence Block! so many characters and so many places. Perfect to keep for those times when you need a reliable read; this book is large enough with enough variety to put you to sleep or to keep you up waiting for something. Sad, though, the twin towers on the jacket.
August 30, 2018
—Lawrence Block: The Collected Mystery Stories—
There is such a diversity to his perversity the most dangerous of psychopaths amongst characters inhabit writer’s mind’s-eye. LB is an artist.
Like a Thief in the Night short story is like two passing ships in the night the petite corrupter and, he.
So’s the third short story is more worthwhile The Burglar Who Smelled Smoke whatnot gem on locals’ term Bellermann’s Folly, the proprietor explains to hired thief, “That’s what all the local rustics call it. They hold in contempt that which they fail to understand. To their eyes, the architecture is overly ornate, and too much a mixture of styles, at once a Rhenish castle and an alpine chalet. And the library dwarfs the rest of the house, like the tail that wags the dog. Your driver is likely a an who owns a single book, the Bible given to him for Confirmation and unopened ever since.” p. 26.
A Bad Night for Burglars is hilarity incarnate burgle job gone bad, don’t they all, with homeowner, chess, burglar, wife, with dark twist.
Short story Collecting Ackermans life lesson never ring the filth.
Short story The Dettweiler Solution on the gentlemen clothiers selling spats and bowties is hilarity. Drinking jug of corn on porch. Brothers Dettweiler: Seth & Porter et al have character trait of persistence. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again.
Short story Funny You Should Ask is nice shorty on hitchhikers’ kitsch spiel.
Going through the motions is hardboiled noir. Very taut.
And Miles to go before I Sleep a supernatural mystery of a guy neither good, nor bad.
So, Depression era tale Nothing Short of Highway Robbery is a mint.
A Thousand Dollars a Word is another black humor short story.
“And then, a little while later, the big man said, “I have an unusual question to ask you.”
“Ask away.”
“Have you ever killed a man?” p. 142 laugh out loud. O shite when he fondles knife. Sometimes They Bite is another good Lawrence Block hook-line-and-sinker. “It’s one I don’t tell often,” (I freaking hope not.)
Strangers on a Handball Court is another classic taut well-written.
This Crazy Business of Ours the mentor & the protégé tale as old as time.
When This Man Dies is something from page of the Outer Limits or, Tales from the Crypt. Neatly written with andirons & all.
The Ehrengraf Defense is solicitor works upon a ‘contingency basis’ since so many barristers inflates their billable hours. Shyster of assembly-liners this one a regular, Nikos Sampson of journalism.
The Ehrengraf Presumption is another zinger to the bone.
Antonelli Scorpion mentioned in The Ehrengraf Experience from solicitor goes the extra mile for the client.
The Ehrengraf Obligation is other short story on a marihuana smoking poet for a client.
The Ehrengraf Alternative involves mistress sat on jailhouse iron cot. Might dandified solicitor pull in skirt upside-down as it were? Paraffin test found nitrite particles or lack thereof imported into land of the free from Mexico City from p. 241.
Poisoned medical vials 1-in-100 of Darnitol sounds suitably pharmaceutical premise on the well-written short story The Ehrengraf Nostrum case.
Schemer a hulking lad reputedly emptied two clips of automatic assault rifle into his gimp father and, paraplegic mother; yet, however, readership all knew by now the presumption of innocence for H. Ehrengraf’s clientele. DTT & EKG p. 265 on drugs-addled mind. “Ehrengraf … had a feeling the world would be a kinder and gentler place for all if the innocent Mr. McCandless never …” p. 272.
Favourite so far is The Book Always Balance for the business magnate a stickler for order. Methinks how to write-of blackmail payments for taxpaying purposes. H’m.
The Boy Who Disappeared Clouds goes into metaphysical mumbo-jumbo evidenced on p. 286, “Now let me tell you what you’re going to do. You’re going to stare at it and focus on it, and you’re going to send energy from your Third Eye chakra, that’s right here—” he touched his finger to a spot midway between her eyebrows “—and that energy is going to disperse the cloud.”
Intro shorty story Change of Life felt like me spot-on. We’ll see. Schmuck is in a rut. Thinketh the born loser comic on the antihero.
Click! really hits it. Feeling I knew where this premise going. Mightn’t’ve been wrong or, right. Then glorious revolve threw me. Before dénouement like I presumed.
The understated Martini is the go-to cocktail in few of the short stories. There’s nothing wrong with a Vesper Martini or, the ones downed by broad in Epitaph for a Tramp or, Park Avenue Tramp, shan’t recollect original title of other work by other writer right now.
Well, well, the Dangerous Business short story is bit depressing, with the other professionals’ alcoholic, “Alcoholism was virtually an occupational illness in his profession, and of course it made efficient functioning impossible.” p. 310. Baby gets philosophical with her man, so he opens up, “Maybe there was once something else I wanted to do. Maybe at some stage in my life I had the potential to do other things, to be somebody other than the man I turned into.” p. 311. Writer talks with his moll how, “Doesn’t matter. There’s no such thing as copyright on titles. I thought you knew that.” p. 312 when pairing toy with title of the short story involve Johnny Speed.
Hot Eyes, Cold Eyes is well-written short story on reverse psychology. Writer paints a picture, “There was a man leaning against a red brick building not twenty yards from her. He was perhaps thirty-five, unshaven, and his clothes looked as though he’d slept in them. When she turned to glance at him his lips curled slightly, and his eyes, red-rimmed and glassy, moved first to her face, then drifted insolently the length of her body. She could feel their heat; it leaped from the eyes to her breasts and loins like an electric charge bridging a gap.” ¶ “He placed his hand deliberately upon his crotch and rubbed himself. His smile widened.” p. 313. O snap!
If This Be Madness in St. Anthony’s is … something else entirely, something very sick. Inmate talks on the advantages of being involuntarily committed, such as, “Every Wednesday, Mary visited me. This in itself was enough to fall in love with St. Anthony’s. Not because she visited me once a week, but because for six days out of every seven I was spared her company.” p. 320.
“That is when the exchange will take place.” So, business like so very Dutch in the mannerisms of brother Rolf mentioned on p. 327 from short story A Little off the Top. 1835 brandy pairing Freya a mixed caste ward of a rakish Dutchman. What could go wrong? olden concept of the born-again virgin exchange for the Comet Year cognac on a Dutch isle in the Caribbean.
Leo Youngdahl read like an inside joke amongst family.
The Most Unusual Snatch is one of shorts with play on words on little minx hates her father. Stay away from women mislike their fathers with daddy issues, especially on Father’s Day.
Passport in Order is a taut short story. Last time January – February 2005 when I in Paris.
That Kind of a Day writer penned the wife spoke on her slain\suicided husband popped in the office, “He was a gambler, Dave was. Oh, not cards or dice—not that kind of a gambler—stocks, the stock market. He made a decent living but that wasn’t enough because he wanted more, he wanted a lot of money, and he tried to make it fast. He wanted to take risks in the business, to borrow money and expand. He had dreams…So he took chances in the market, and a first he did all right, I think.” p. 356.
Linda Haber – secretary at Hofert & Jordan; Traynor & Phil Grey round out the filth. “Grey and Traynor worked as a team, crisp and smooth and efficient. Traynor questioned the secretary when she came to, then had the medical examiner give her a sedative and commissioned a patrolman to drive her home.” p. 354. Hofert & Jordan firm sounded like marginal down-market firm eking out a living, “The lawyer says they didn’t make much and they didn’t lose much either…The secretary said they argued a lot.” (whom could dispute her word? Mister Hofert got whacked.) Ye olde contradictory argument family needed time from father when father earning a living in the world, provided, very well for the family, p. 356. Ambiguity in the short story makes it better.
So’s the short story Weekend Guests is riveting piece. Filth report a mere rubberstamp formality meaningless of solve crime, only insurance company expedient so it’s on the books. Writer explains fool’s paradise of thieves sell score to fence, “For ten cents on the dollar, and that’s if they’re lucky.” p. 364.
Salinger literary reference by p. 375, “with loose threads at the end and—what was the precious line of Salinger’s? Yes. With a touch of squalor, with love and squalor. I couldn’t finish it. I hated it.” Ex-OSS agent recollected never forget the scent of burnt human flesh on the recluse wrote The Catcher in the Rye, reputedly enigma of ‘lone wolf’ assassins Mameluke mind-controlled useful idiots. Brilliant chessboard analogy of writer’s on, “I got the board. We played, and he won, and my mind spent more of its time with other pawns than the ones we played with now. The image grew on me. I saw them all, Rachel Avery, Dean Avery, Thurman Goodin, carved of wood and all of a shade, either black or white; weighted with lead, and bottomed with a circlet of felt, green felt, and moved around by our hands upon a mirthless board.” p. 375.
You Could Call It Blackmail is another zinger explicitly, “He put his hands in his pockets and closed his fingers around the flashlight batteries. “You’d better close the door,” he said, stepping around Eberhard and into the apartment. “I have a message from Mrs. Kilberg and we don’t want the neighbors tuning in.” ¶ “Eberhard closed the door and put the chain bolt on. As he was turning around again, Barr hit him on the side of the jaw with all his strength. The German fell back against the door and Barr waded in after him, striking him repeatedly in the face and the chest. The weight of the batteries increased the effect of the blows immeasurably.” p. 388 shady shyster shakedown artist.
Answers to Soldier my introduction to Keller not impressed. Something scammy.
Timewatcher you don’t want on the casting couch interpreter of dreams a junk science from practitioner like this shrink written on in Keller’s Therapy short story. Pieces set in play for a professional, “and the glove box held the car’s registration and a semiautomatic pistol, a . 22-caliber Horstmann Sun Dog, fully loaded, with a spare clip lying alongside it. Keller slipped the gun and the spare clip,” p. 410-411. Even a key fitting inside, “the one key fits the ignition and the glove box. And the doors and the trunk, too. And if you turn the key upside down it’ll still fit, ‘cause there’s no up and down to it. You really got to hand it to those Japs.” ¶ “What’ll they think of next?” ¶ “Well, it may not seem like much,” the man said, “but all the time you waste making sure you got the right key, then making sure you got it right side up.” p. 410 the key conundrum before c-note keys electronic twitters. “Just change a vowel. Keller = Killer.” ¶ “Clear enough, wasn’t it?” p. 413.
The short story titled Keller’s Therapy is a fine one with soldier double-meaning.
Keller on the Spot the title reminiscent title Quarry on the Spot with steamy pinups flanking Quarry. Suicide by proxy interesting idea, h’m, that’s been thought of by few. “, but he’d brought it on himself. Getting involved, fishing the boy out of the pool. He’d interfered with the natural order of things.” p. 439 remonstrates with Lawrence Block being a masterful writer, the twists and turns like Oliver Twist or Ragged Dick of Horatio Alger fame.
As Good as a Rest is with the swingers set on international vacation when inhibitions lessen already. H’m. ‘I could probably remember precisely what happened if I put my mind to it, but I don’t think I could make the memory seem real. Because it’s as if it happened to someone else. It was vivid at the time, because at the time I truly was the person sharing her bed with Harry. But that person had no existence before or after that European vacation.” p. 448. “Andrew insisted that we all drink grappa with our coffee. It turned out to be a rather nasty brandy, clear in color and quite powerful.” p. 446. One of their travel partners the Dattners is carrying a shoulder holstered piece on him throughout European train rides. “Except I mean for the whole day,” Harry said. A light film of perspiration gleamed on his forehead. I looked at his jacket and tried to decided if he was wearing his gun. I’d seen it on our afternoon in Madrid. His jacket had come open and I’d seen his gun, snug in his shoulder holster.” “The whole day and then the evening, too. Dinner—and after.” (Dinner & a fuck.) Makes sense carrying the piece when foursome, “In Paris, after a night watching a floor show at what I’m sure was a rather disreputable little nightclub in Les Halles, I lay in bed while Andrew sat up smoking a last cigarette.” p. out with the proposition.
Manhattan noir short story A Blow for Freedom involves New Yorker office man playing cowboy with six-shooter revolver he purchased down in Florida. Seemingly era before Giuliani cleaned up the streets of skid row in Times Square of the prostitutes; the pimps; the drugsmongers. Even though owning a handgun in NYC is legally frowned upon; and the concealed carry permit must convince its occupational safety reason. Rookie mishaps like leaving revolver loaded, in nightstand, under pillow, surprised not inside desk drawer for Christ’s sake. Title from prohibition era speakeasies. Elliott’s taking baby steps going out with piece on his person, “He felt as though he were keeping a secret from everyone he met, and that the secret empowered him.” Elliott’s becoming one with the gun meant, ‘he was ready.’
Cleveland in my Dreams is esoteric dream within a dream.
Entirely ambivalent on Death Wish titled like a Charles Bronson action adventure vigilantism flick, the closest on the Continent is the Franco Nero film Street Law translation in the English from the Apennine Peninsula original. Epoxy resins, bushy eyebrows. These short stories are weighty in the main.
Short story Good for the Soul isn’t exactly chicken noodle soup good for the soul though in own style. Good descriptors like p. 476, ‘lighting each new one from the butt of the one preceding it.’ Before hackneyed kitsch transpires by p. 480, ‘That was March. Four months later, in July, it happened again.’ Clever play on young exotic dancer’s stage name Mona More, evidenced p. 484 filth insight Mr. Cuttleton version of shrink, “Don’t those strippers have wild names? Mona More. As in Mon Amour. That’s French.”
Hilliard’s Ceremony is the Mission Song of LB short stories. The lawn clippings bit is rich and the chicken placenta rub. Excellent descriptors aplenty in story, for those lived in Sub-Saharan Africa differentiate someone straight out of Africa like little clues betray Europeans from the Continent, such as p. 486, ‘He had a well-shaped oval head, regular features, an impish white-toothed grin. He had one white grandparent, and was dark enough to be regarded as a black man in America. Here in Togo, where mixed blood was a rarity, he looked to be of another race altogether.’ P. 494-495 tripartite insight amongst Atuele; Donnelly and, Alan, is like white on rice transition from Alan spoke to the witchdoctor return pat to Donnelly. This is picaresque rakish p. 501 hilarity whatnot, ‘When the serving girl cleared the dishes, her little breast brushed Hilliard’s arm. He could have sworn it was deliberate. Later, when she brought the coffee, she grinned at him as if they shared a secret. He glanced at Marilyn, but if she caught it she gave no indication.’ ¶ ‘Later, they watched Dr. Zhivago on the VCR.’ Hilliard has changed. So’s on p. 499 excellent descriptor, ‘She had glossy black skin and a full figure. Her cheekbones were high, her smile blinding.’
How would you like It? is short story déjà vu for me.
Like a Bug on a Windshield recollects mother’s maxim the truckers (rhymes with other word for me) are the king of the road.
Recollect blew load essence on woman’s titties inside motel room Rodeway Inn in okc nears I-40 & Double Ds saloon. Tapped last drop out on her ginormous alabaster orbs with head mic test. Like a Bug on a Windshield the Dolly Parton reference brought it back. Good country descriptors p. 512 like, ‘I can about hear his voice.’ Regional Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine like Scrapple from Philly p. 510 mention or, the can f Hudepohl from p. 514 & 507 took readership to secretive purple squirrel world of truckers.
LB short story Someday I’ll Plant More Walnut Trees is on diminishing asset could be poached and, the generational curse.
Some Days You Get the Bear no idea how this short story will start; middle or, end, that’s the beauty of Lawrence Block imaginative writing. Read all the way into p. 500 or so to see slight pattern and, only if. ‘Whenever a country had a famine, some of its citizenry escaped to the United States and opened a restaurant. First the Bangladeshi, now the Ethiopians. Who, he wondered, was next?’ insight from p. 533 some writers are one-trick ponies this writer isn’t.
Some Days You Get the Bear is fun with semantics of Burkina Faso versus Upper Volta dynamic. These people found each other
Some Things a Man Must Do a short story with hard-luck gangsters, are there any other kind? “This do look like war, sir.” ¶ “Mmmmm,” said Mattera. “Doesn’t make sense, does it? You would think we would have heard something. That’s usually the nice thing about being a cop. You get to hear things, things the average citizen may not know about. You don’t always get to do anything about what you hear, but you hear about it. We’re only in this business because it gives us the feeling of being on the inside.” ¶ “I thought it was for the free coffee,” said the counterman. They drank, pretending not to hear him.
“Even so, not everyone was careful enough … Benny Benedetto looked under the hood of his brand-new car, found a bomb wired to the ignition, removed it gingerly and dismantled it efficiently, and climbed behind the steering wheel clucking his tongue at the perfidy of his fellow man. But he completely missed the bomb wired to his gas pedal. It didn’t miss him; they picked him up with a mop.” This descriptor from p. 548 is good. The white rabbit tells the officers story on, “I’m reminded of the anarchists around the turn of the century,” said Mr. Fitch. “Of course, they were an unpleasant sort of men, but they had an interesting theory. They felt that if enough kings were assassinated, sooner or later no one would care to be king.” ¶ “That’s an interesting theory,” Finney said. ¶ “So they went about killing kings. There aren’t many kings these days,” Mr. Fitch said quietly. “When you think about it, there are rather few of them about. Oh, I’m certain there are other explanations, but still—”
There is such a diversity to his perversity the most dangerous of psychopaths amongst characters inhabit writer’s mind’s-eye. LB is an artist.
Like a Thief in the Night short story is like two passing ships in the night the petite corrupter and, he.
So’s the third short story is more worthwhile The Burglar Who Smelled Smoke whatnot gem on locals’ term Bellermann’s Folly, the proprietor explains to hired thief, “That’s what all the local rustics call it. They hold in contempt that which they fail to understand. To their eyes, the architecture is overly ornate, and too much a mixture of styles, at once a Rhenish castle and an alpine chalet. And the library dwarfs the rest of the house, like the tail that wags the dog. Your driver is likely a an who owns a single book, the Bible given to him for Confirmation and unopened ever since.” p. 26.
A Bad Night for Burglars is hilarity incarnate burgle job gone bad, don’t they all, with homeowner, chess, burglar, wife, with dark twist.
Short story Collecting Ackermans life lesson never ring the filth.
Short story The Dettweiler Solution on the gentlemen clothiers selling spats and bowties is hilarity. Drinking jug of corn on porch. Brothers Dettweiler: Seth & Porter et al have character trait of persistence. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again.
Short story Funny You Should Ask is nice shorty on hitchhikers’ kitsch spiel.
Going through the motions is hardboiled noir. Very taut.
And Miles to go before I Sleep a supernatural mystery of a guy neither good, nor bad.
So, Depression era tale Nothing Short of Highway Robbery is a mint.
A Thousand Dollars a Word is another black humor short story.
“And then, a little while later, the big man said, “I have an unusual question to ask you.”
“Ask away.”
“Have you ever killed a man?” p. 142 laugh out loud. O shite when he fondles knife. Sometimes They Bite is another good Lawrence Block hook-line-and-sinker. “It’s one I don’t tell often,” (I freaking hope not.)
Strangers on a Handball Court is another classic taut well-written.
This Crazy Business of Ours the mentor & the protégé tale as old as time.
When This Man Dies is something from page of the Outer Limits or, Tales from the Crypt. Neatly written with andirons & all.
The Ehrengraf Defense is solicitor works upon a ‘contingency basis’ since so many barristers inflates their billable hours. Shyster of assembly-liners this one a regular, Nikos Sampson of journalism.
The Ehrengraf Presumption is another zinger to the bone.
Antonelli Scorpion mentioned in The Ehrengraf Experience from solicitor goes the extra mile for the client.
The Ehrengraf Obligation is other short story on a marihuana smoking poet for a client.
The Ehrengraf Alternative involves mistress sat on jailhouse iron cot. Might dandified solicitor pull in skirt upside-down as it were? Paraffin test found nitrite particles or lack thereof imported into land of the free from Mexico City from p. 241.
Poisoned medical vials 1-in-100 of Darnitol sounds suitably pharmaceutical premise on the well-written short story The Ehrengraf Nostrum case.
Schemer a hulking lad reputedly emptied two clips of automatic assault rifle into his gimp father and, paraplegic mother; yet, however, readership all knew by now the presumption of innocence for H. Ehrengraf’s clientele. DTT & EKG p. 265 on drugs-addled mind. “Ehrengraf … had a feeling the world would be a kinder and gentler place for all if the innocent Mr. McCandless never …” p. 272.
Favourite so far is The Book Always Balance for the business magnate a stickler for order. Methinks how to write-of blackmail payments for taxpaying purposes. H’m.
The Boy Who Disappeared Clouds goes into metaphysical mumbo-jumbo evidenced on p. 286, “Now let me tell you what you’re going to do. You’re going to stare at it and focus on it, and you’re going to send energy from your Third Eye chakra, that’s right here—” he touched his finger to a spot midway between her eyebrows “—and that energy is going to disperse the cloud.”
Intro shorty story Change of Life felt like me spot-on. We’ll see. Schmuck is in a rut. Thinketh the born loser comic on the antihero.
Click! really hits it. Feeling I knew where this premise going. Mightn’t’ve been wrong or, right. Then glorious revolve threw me. Before dénouement like I presumed.
The understated Martini is the go-to cocktail in few of the short stories. There’s nothing wrong with a Vesper Martini or, the ones downed by broad in Epitaph for a Tramp or, Park Avenue Tramp, shan’t recollect original title of other work by other writer right now.
Well, well, the Dangerous Business short story is bit depressing, with the other professionals’ alcoholic, “Alcoholism was virtually an occupational illness in his profession, and of course it made efficient functioning impossible.” p. 310. Baby gets philosophical with her man, so he opens up, “Maybe there was once something else I wanted to do. Maybe at some stage in my life I had the potential to do other things, to be somebody other than the man I turned into.” p. 311. Writer talks with his moll how, “Doesn’t matter. There’s no such thing as copyright on titles. I thought you knew that.” p. 312 when pairing toy with title of the short story involve Johnny Speed.
Hot Eyes, Cold Eyes is well-written short story on reverse psychology. Writer paints a picture, “There was a man leaning against a red brick building not twenty yards from her. He was perhaps thirty-five, unshaven, and his clothes looked as though he’d slept in them. When she turned to glance at him his lips curled slightly, and his eyes, red-rimmed and glassy, moved first to her face, then drifted insolently the length of her body. She could feel their heat; it leaped from the eyes to her breasts and loins like an electric charge bridging a gap.” ¶ “He placed his hand deliberately upon his crotch and rubbed himself. His smile widened.” p. 313. O snap!
If This Be Madness in St. Anthony’s is … something else entirely, something very sick. Inmate talks on the advantages of being involuntarily committed, such as, “Every Wednesday, Mary visited me. This in itself was enough to fall in love with St. Anthony’s. Not because she visited me once a week, but because for six days out of every seven I was spared her company.” p. 320.
“That is when the exchange will take place.” So, business like so very Dutch in the mannerisms of brother Rolf mentioned on p. 327 from short story A Little off the Top. 1835 brandy pairing Freya a mixed caste ward of a rakish Dutchman. What could go wrong? olden concept of the born-again virgin exchange for the Comet Year cognac on a Dutch isle in the Caribbean.
Leo Youngdahl read like an inside joke amongst family.
The Most Unusual Snatch is one of shorts with play on words on little minx hates her father. Stay away from women mislike their fathers with daddy issues, especially on Father’s Day.
Passport in Order is a taut short story. Last time January – February 2005 when I in Paris.
That Kind of a Day writer penned the wife spoke on her slain\suicided husband popped in the office, “He was a gambler, Dave was. Oh, not cards or dice—not that kind of a gambler—stocks, the stock market. He made a decent living but that wasn’t enough because he wanted more, he wanted a lot of money, and he tried to make it fast. He wanted to take risks in the business, to borrow money and expand. He had dreams…So he took chances in the market, and a first he did all right, I think.” p. 356.
Linda Haber – secretary at Hofert & Jordan; Traynor & Phil Grey round out the filth. “Grey and Traynor worked as a team, crisp and smooth and efficient. Traynor questioned the secretary when she came to, then had the medical examiner give her a sedative and commissioned a patrolman to drive her home.” p. 354. Hofert & Jordan firm sounded like marginal down-market firm eking out a living, “The lawyer says they didn’t make much and they didn’t lose much either…The secretary said they argued a lot.” (whom could dispute her word? Mister Hofert got whacked.) Ye olde contradictory argument family needed time from father when father earning a living in the world, provided, very well for the family, p. 356. Ambiguity in the short story makes it better.
So’s the short story Weekend Guests is riveting piece. Filth report a mere rubberstamp formality meaningless of solve crime, only insurance company expedient so it’s on the books. Writer explains fool’s paradise of thieves sell score to fence, “For ten cents on the dollar, and that’s if they’re lucky.” p. 364.
Salinger literary reference by p. 375, “with loose threads at the end and—what was the precious line of Salinger’s? Yes. With a touch of squalor, with love and squalor. I couldn’t finish it. I hated it.” Ex-OSS agent recollected never forget the scent of burnt human flesh on the recluse wrote The Catcher in the Rye, reputedly enigma of ‘lone wolf’ assassins Mameluke mind-controlled useful idiots. Brilliant chessboard analogy of writer’s on, “I got the board. We played, and he won, and my mind spent more of its time with other pawns than the ones we played with now. The image grew on me. I saw them all, Rachel Avery, Dean Avery, Thurman Goodin, carved of wood and all of a shade, either black or white; weighted with lead, and bottomed with a circlet of felt, green felt, and moved around by our hands upon a mirthless board.” p. 375.
You Could Call It Blackmail is another zinger explicitly, “He put his hands in his pockets and closed his fingers around the flashlight batteries. “You’d better close the door,” he said, stepping around Eberhard and into the apartment. “I have a message from Mrs. Kilberg and we don’t want the neighbors tuning in.” ¶ “Eberhard closed the door and put the chain bolt on. As he was turning around again, Barr hit him on the side of the jaw with all his strength. The German fell back against the door and Barr waded in after him, striking him repeatedly in the face and the chest. The weight of the batteries increased the effect of the blows immeasurably.” p. 388 shady shyster shakedown artist.
Answers to Soldier my introduction to Keller not impressed. Something scammy.
Timewatcher you don’t want on the casting couch interpreter of dreams a junk science from practitioner like this shrink written on in Keller’s Therapy short story. Pieces set in play for a professional, “and the glove box held the car’s registration and a semiautomatic pistol, a . 22-caliber Horstmann Sun Dog, fully loaded, with a spare clip lying alongside it. Keller slipped the gun and the spare clip,” p. 410-411. Even a key fitting inside, “the one key fits the ignition and the glove box. And the doors and the trunk, too. And if you turn the key upside down it’ll still fit, ‘cause there’s no up and down to it. You really got to hand it to those Japs.” ¶ “What’ll they think of next?” ¶ “Well, it may not seem like much,” the man said, “but all the time you waste making sure you got the right key, then making sure you got it right side up.” p. 410 the key conundrum before c-note keys electronic twitters. “Just change a vowel. Keller = Killer.” ¶ “Clear enough, wasn’t it?” p. 413.
The short story titled Keller’s Therapy is a fine one with soldier double-meaning.
Keller on the Spot the title reminiscent title Quarry on the Spot with steamy pinups flanking Quarry. Suicide by proxy interesting idea, h’m, that’s been thought of by few. “, but he’d brought it on himself. Getting involved, fishing the boy out of the pool. He’d interfered with the natural order of things.” p. 439 remonstrates with Lawrence Block being a masterful writer, the twists and turns like Oliver Twist or Ragged Dick of Horatio Alger fame.
As Good as a Rest is with the swingers set on international vacation when inhibitions lessen already. H’m. ‘I could probably remember precisely what happened if I put my mind to it, but I don’t think I could make the memory seem real. Because it’s as if it happened to someone else. It was vivid at the time, because at the time I truly was the person sharing her bed with Harry. But that person had no existence before or after that European vacation.” p. 448. “Andrew insisted that we all drink grappa with our coffee. It turned out to be a rather nasty brandy, clear in color and quite powerful.” p. 446. One of their travel partners the Dattners is carrying a shoulder holstered piece on him throughout European train rides. “Except I mean for the whole day,” Harry said. A light film of perspiration gleamed on his forehead. I looked at his jacket and tried to decided if he was wearing his gun. I’d seen it on our afternoon in Madrid. His jacket had come open and I’d seen his gun, snug in his shoulder holster.” “The whole day and then the evening, too. Dinner—and after.” (Dinner & a fuck.) Makes sense carrying the piece when foursome, “In Paris, after a night watching a floor show at what I’m sure was a rather disreputable little nightclub in Les Halles, I lay in bed while Andrew sat up smoking a last cigarette.” p. out with the proposition.
Manhattan noir short story A Blow for Freedom involves New Yorker office man playing cowboy with six-shooter revolver he purchased down in Florida. Seemingly era before Giuliani cleaned up the streets of skid row in Times Square of the prostitutes; the pimps; the drugsmongers. Even though owning a handgun in NYC is legally frowned upon; and the concealed carry permit must convince its occupational safety reason. Rookie mishaps like leaving revolver loaded, in nightstand, under pillow, surprised not inside desk drawer for Christ’s sake. Title from prohibition era speakeasies. Elliott’s taking baby steps going out with piece on his person, “He felt as though he were keeping a secret from everyone he met, and that the secret empowered him.” Elliott’s becoming one with the gun meant, ‘he was ready.’
Cleveland in my Dreams is esoteric dream within a dream.
Entirely ambivalent on Death Wish titled like a Charles Bronson action adventure vigilantism flick, the closest on the Continent is the Franco Nero film Street Law translation in the English from the Apennine Peninsula original. Epoxy resins, bushy eyebrows. These short stories are weighty in the main.
Short story Good for the Soul isn’t exactly chicken noodle soup good for the soul though in own style. Good descriptors like p. 476, ‘lighting each new one from the butt of the one preceding it.’ Before hackneyed kitsch transpires by p. 480, ‘That was March. Four months later, in July, it happened again.’ Clever play on young exotic dancer’s stage name Mona More, evidenced p. 484 filth insight Mr. Cuttleton version of shrink, “Don’t those strippers have wild names? Mona More. As in Mon Amour. That’s French.”
Hilliard’s Ceremony is the Mission Song of LB short stories. The lawn clippings bit is rich and the chicken placenta rub. Excellent descriptors aplenty in story, for those lived in Sub-Saharan Africa differentiate someone straight out of Africa like little clues betray Europeans from the Continent, such as p. 486, ‘He had a well-shaped oval head, regular features, an impish white-toothed grin. He had one white grandparent, and was dark enough to be regarded as a black man in America. Here in Togo, where mixed blood was a rarity, he looked to be of another race altogether.’ P. 494-495 tripartite insight amongst Atuele; Donnelly and, Alan, is like white on rice transition from Alan spoke to the witchdoctor return pat to Donnelly. This is picaresque rakish p. 501 hilarity whatnot, ‘When the serving girl cleared the dishes, her little breast brushed Hilliard’s arm. He could have sworn it was deliberate. Later, when she brought the coffee, she grinned at him as if they shared a secret. He glanced at Marilyn, but if she caught it she gave no indication.’ ¶ ‘Later, they watched Dr. Zhivago on the VCR.’ Hilliard has changed. So’s on p. 499 excellent descriptor, ‘She had glossy black skin and a full figure. Her cheekbones were high, her smile blinding.’
How would you like It? is short story déjà vu for me.
Like a Bug on a Windshield recollects mother’s maxim the truckers (rhymes with other word for me) are the king of the road.
Recollect blew load essence on woman’s titties inside motel room Rodeway Inn in okc nears I-40 & Double Ds saloon. Tapped last drop out on her ginormous alabaster orbs with head mic test. Like a Bug on a Windshield the Dolly Parton reference brought it back. Good country descriptors p. 512 like, ‘I can about hear his voice.’ Regional Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine like Scrapple from Philly p. 510 mention or, the can f Hudepohl from p. 514 & 507 took readership to secretive purple squirrel world of truckers.
LB short story Someday I’ll Plant More Walnut Trees is on diminishing asset could be poached and, the generational curse.
Some Days You Get the Bear no idea how this short story will start; middle or, end, that’s the beauty of Lawrence Block imaginative writing. Read all the way into p. 500 or so to see slight pattern and, only if. ‘Whenever a country had a famine, some of its citizenry escaped to the United States and opened a restaurant. First the Bangladeshi, now the Ethiopians. Who, he wondered, was next?’ insight from p. 533 some writers are one-trick ponies this writer isn’t.
Some Days You Get the Bear is fun with semantics of Burkina Faso versus Upper Volta dynamic. These people found each other
Some Things a Man Must Do a short story with hard-luck gangsters, are there any other kind? “This do look like war, sir.” ¶ “Mmmmm,” said Mattera. “Doesn’t make sense, does it? You would think we would have heard something. That’s usually the nice thing about being a cop. You get to hear things, things the average citizen may not know about. You don’t always get to do anything about what you hear, but you hear about it. We’re only in this business because it gives us the feeling of being on the inside.” ¶ “I thought it was for the free coffee,” said the counterman. They drank, pretending not to hear him.
“Even so, not everyone was careful enough … Benny Benedetto looked under the hood of his brand-new car, found a bomb wired to the ignition, removed it gingerly and dismantled it efficiently, and climbed behind the steering wheel clucking his tongue at the perfidy of his fellow man. But he completely missed the bomb wired to his gas pedal. It didn’t miss him; they picked him up with a mop.” This descriptor from p. 548 is good. The white rabbit tells the officers story on, “I’m reminded of the anarchists around the turn of the century,” said Mr. Fitch. “Of course, they were an unpleasant sort of men, but they had an interesting theory. They felt that if enough kings were assassinated, sooner or later no one would care to be king.” ¶ “That’s an interesting theory,” Finney said. ¶ “So they went about killing kings. There aren’t many kings these days,” Mr. Fitch said quietly. “When you think about it, there are rather few of them about. Oh, I’m certain there are other explanations, but still—”
November 22, 2012
A solid collection of great shorts. Perfect for those of us who sometimes suffer from a short attention span. This collection contains all the author's mystery short stories (as of the publication date in 1999) except for a handful of stories published in the late '50s that the author could "see no justification for inflicting them on the general reader".
The majority of these stories are good or better -- with more than a few being absolutely great -- and then there are two or three that I found to be a little mediocre. Along with the standard formula short stories, where the reader can more or less guess where the plot is headed, there are many that are truly inventive and offer surprising twists.
I particularly liked the section featuring slick criminal defense attorney Martin Ehrengraf who rarely goes to court as his clients somehow almost always end up being innocent before going to trail (anyone familiar with the TV show Breaking Bad will see a certain similarity, in a much cruder form, in that shows resident shyster Saul Goodman).
All in all, if you're a fan of short mystery stories I don't see how you can go wrong with this collection from Lawrence Block.
The majority of these stories are good or better -- with more than a few being absolutely great -- and then there are two or three that I found to be a little mediocre. Along with the standard formula short stories, where the reader can more or less guess where the plot is headed, there are many that are truly inventive and offer surprising twists.
I particularly liked the section featuring slick criminal defense attorney Martin Ehrengraf who rarely goes to court as his clients somehow almost always end up being innocent before going to trail (anyone familiar with the TV show Breaking Bad will see a certain similarity, in a much cruder form, in that shows resident shyster Saul Goodman).
All in all, if you're a fan of short mystery stories I don't see how you can go wrong with this collection from Lawrence Block.
January 11, 2010
Some of the most entertaining tales of contemporary Detective fiction. Block creates characters distinguished in their own unique and quirky personalities. Amiable thieves and crime-busting lawyers with strange ways of upholding justice go side by side in this thick tome. Although not all the stories are top-notch, this is an essential career-spanning collection that highlights the work of perhaps the best modern mystery author.
November 20, 2014
5 stars with a note: the 5 stars is really for a portion of the stories, about 10 from "Ehrengraf for the Defense", which is out of print. The other stories probably average around 3.5 stars, which is still decent considering the number of them.
July 7, 2020
This is a good book for occasional dipping. As with any story collection, a reader will find some offerings resonate more than others. However, Lawrence Block is a master at devising intriguing plots. I only had one wish, that some of the stories had been developed into full-length novels. Among the standouts: "Collecting Ackermans".
April 16, 2024
i’d never heard of lawrence block before i found this tucked at the back of a bookshelf in my childhood home, and now he may be up there with my favorite mystery authors. i was hooked from the very first page, which is hard to do with short stories. i especially enjoyed how ambiguous the endings are. you can infer with great certainty what happens, but block never comes out and says it
June 10, 2019
A good selection of stories to suit all tastes. Some are better, or suit me, more than others. But who can complain when there are so many to appreciate.
Read
August 7, 2021to-read
July 27, 2011
Lawrence Block, I would suggest, is not that well known, or read, in the UK. In your local Waterstones you may find a couple of random samples of his prodigious output – chances are you’ll find nothing at all. All of which is, in my opinion, a great pity; Block really is the grand master or crime fiction. His tales are set in and around his native New York and feature a wide range of characters: Bernie Rhodenbarr the book selling burglar, Keller the stamp collecting hit man and Scudder the crime solving ex-policeman are but a few. Some of these characters (including all of the above) have formed the basis of hugely entertaining series. The Scudder books are widely regarded as amongst the best crime fiction written and have been an inspiration for many writers, including Reed Farrel Coleman for whom Scudder formed a loose base for his own troubled former NYPD flatfoot Moe Prager.
I’ll be honest, I’m not normally a huge fan of short stories – I’m more into characterisation than plot and consequently they always seem to leave me strangely unfulfilled. However, here Block has pulled of the successful trick of setting a good proportion of the stories around his already known lead characters (if you’ve read his books, that is). So this collection really works for me. It’s a big book (over 700 pages) and I can’t claim to have read all of the stories – yet – but the tales I’ve read so far have whetted my appetite for more and I can but marvel at Block’s use of the English language – his ability to mix humour and pathos; how he’s made every phrase, every word count.
In summary, it’s a brilliant introduction to this writer if he’s a new name to you and a must for all seasoned Block fans.
I’ll be honest, I’m not normally a huge fan of short stories – I’m more into characterisation than plot and consequently they always seem to leave me strangely unfulfilled. However, here Block has pulled of the successful trick of setting a good proportion of the stories around his already known lead characters (if you’ve read his books, that is). So this collection really works for me. It’s a big book (over 700 pages) and I can’t claim to have read all of the stories – yet – but the tales I’ve read so far have whetted my appetite for more and I can but marvel at Block’s use of the English language – his ability to mix humour and pathos; how he’s made every phrase, every word count.
In summary, it’s a brilliant introduction to this writer if he’s a new name to you and a must for all seasoned Block fans.
April 22, 2012
Lawrence Block is one of my favorite writers. He's created memorable characters like alcoholic ex-cop Matt Scudder whose series includes the novel "Eight Million Ways to Die," Bernie Rhodenbarr from novels like "A Burglar in the Closet" and the stamp-collecting assassin known as Keller from novels like "Hit Man." He has also created equally memorable characters over the years in a prodigious number of short stories. All these characters and many others are featured in this massive collection of short stories (the American edition is titled "Enough Rope"). Some recurring characters only appear in his short stories, like defense attorney Martin Ehrengraf, who charges exorbitant fees for a guaranteed win (though the key to his success you'll have to read to believe). One thing I love about short story collections: you can start anywhere, depending on what your mood is, and here we have a fascinating array of short stories, some gritty, some humorous, all great reads.
Want to Read
September 28, 2009AKA: Sheldon Lord, Jill Emerson, Paul Kavanaugh, Chip Harrison, Lawrence Block
June 25, 2015
Difficult to finish. I normally enjoy Lawrence Block but this was disappointing.
January 10, 2018
I've only read the first three and I'm entranced, clever and humorous.
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