The Sins of the Fathers (Matthew Scudder, #1)

by Lawrence Block

Man is a weakling, Mr. Scudder, and he is so often powerless to cope with the awful force of an evil woman’s sexuality.” He sighed heavily. “And in the end she was destroyed by means of her own evil nature. The sexual spell she cast upon my son was the instrument of her own undoing.”

“The thing is, you wonder just how far you have a right to turn things around like that.