Time to Murder and Create

One of my GR friends is jumping back into the Scudder series and after reading his review, reminded me I have not enjoyed a Block book in awhile. This is the second in the Scudder series, the character an alcoholic "PI" (unofficial since he doesn't like detail, reports, licensing, etc.) who, if someone needs a favor and offers, perhaps a gift in return, well possibly he will look into it. He tithes 10% to a church but is not religious, just finds them an interesting place to think.In this case, a fellow, a low life nicknamed "Spinner" gives Scudder an envelope and instructions to find his killer. Evidently his expectation is that his current activities may catch up with him, and they do. Interesting plot, well written in the usual Block style, unusual characters, a most worthy read.

It takes a writer of wonderful skill and abilities to thoroughly entrap the reader of one of his books by the end of the first chapter. It takes a man of even greater talent to not only ensure the said reader gets their money's worth with the purchase of the book in question but to virtually guarantee life long support and loyalty of said reader by book's end. TIME TO MURDER AND CREATE is like this. It commences with an introduction to a character going by the name of 'Spinner', a down and out who occasioned throughout his adult life to have regular run ins with the law. By consistent quirks of fate, and an uncanny ability to take advantage of absolute and non absolute truths, this gentleman has always managed to stay out of gaol. By chapter's end, however, Mr Block has managed to lodge this man squarely and securely into our hearts. And with one quick, violent use of his pen, Spinner dies, and our hearts shatter into a thousand pieces quicker than our eyes skim across the kindle screen in utter and shocked, disbelief.Spinner was not exactly a saint. He was blackmailing three figures for various crimes against their own souls and it is up to our man Scudder to determine which of these blaggards did our man in. Each had their own motives, of course, but each possess their own set of idiosyncrasies which made the concept of murder implausible and even impossible for two of them.This really is a clever book. Only a master of the craft could write it. Mr Block is indeed, a Grandmaster of the genre and so it comes as no surprise that he wrote this.The story and plot itself is brilliant. The solution is brilliant. Full marks for this extraordinary effort.

When “Spinner,” a petty thief known for spinning a silver dollar, gives Matthew Scudder an envelope in a bar to be opened only upon his death, little did he know that Spinner would be found in a river with his skull crushed just a few weeks later. It turns out that Spinner was blackmailing three prominent citizens for serious transgressions committed in their younger years.Scudder, a retired NYPD detective, could have walked away with the money that Spinner left in the envelope. However, even though he has been unemployed for a couple of years, he still retains the moral purpose that he had as a cop. He now makes it his mission to determine which of the three, if any, murdered Spinner. After surprise visits to all three, there is no clarity as to culpability, but he decides to let things percolate. The sorting out does occur rather quickly, but not without considerable danger to his well being.Scudder is an interesting character: a gritty, no nonsense kind of guy, but with a weakness for alcohol. The kind of guy one would like to have on one’s side when trouble hits. Perhaps not the greatest of plots, but a book with Scudder can’t be too bad.

Somewhere between "pretty good" and decent Scudder book by Lawrence Block. I'm a fan of the series; this just isn't my favorite one. Some of it's fairly predictable, with a few twists thrown in. One of the three blackmail "pigeons" being investigated for murder feels like a red herring, and elicits a feeling of incompleteness-- even puzzlement-- but it at least provides some interesting characterization, and I suppose one could claim that Block intentionally avoids neat endings.I purchased the Kindle and the Audible audiobook version; although I primarily wanted the latter, Amazon gave me a lower price for the two than for just the Audible by itself. Check out the prices to see whether that's on offer when you're shopping, too. Alan Sklar is my favorite Scudder narrator. He really nails the cadence, the thoughtfulness, and occasionally the lackadaisical, quasi-depressed attitude that made Scudder so fascinating. I'm disappointed that I can't find Sklar narrations for all of the Scudder books. In my opinion he brings this book from what would have been about a 3.5 star offering to the level of 4 stars.

In this second Matt Scudder mystery, Scudder has a murder to solve, but he wonders if he should or not. However he can overlook a lot of crimes, murder isn't one of them. The only problem is he has as a client the death man and three suspects that have things worth killing for. As Scudder makes his way through this tangled web he questions himself if what he is doing is right. This was a good story in that the hero is a man with his own flaws. How this one ends will keep you guessing to the end. My thoughts on this are this is a great story of a man, who isn't an avenging angel, but just a man.

Mathew Scudder is an ex cop in New York City, now he is an unlicensed private eye but, as he puts it, he does favours for people and they give him presents (money). A disreputable man named Spinner Jablon is supposed to telephone Scudder every week so that Scudder knows he is still alive, when he finds out that Jablon has been murdered Scudder investigates and is immersed in blackmail, attempted murder on others AND himself and actual murder.The story is told in first person mode from the point of view of Matthew Scudder which can be a little bit annoying at times.It's a rather short book at just 170 pages but i enjoyed it.Book 9 in the Matthew Scudder series A Walk Among The Tombstones was made into an excellent film starring Liam Neeson as Matthew ScudderI give this book 4 stars.

An excellent plot, that kept me gripped all the way through. Great encouragement for the future reads. Great read and an enjoyable experience.

This is another good noir detective story. Matthew Scudder is an interesting character with lots of depth and emotion, an the way that is conveyed without lots of wasted prose is a real strength, this is another economical and tight story, easy to read and compelling throughout,I will definitely be continuing with the series and recommend them to all fans of crime fiction.

This is the third Scudder book I have read and it is as entertaining as the previous ones. This is excellent, no nonsense crime writing. Credible characters of New York in the 70s and interesting, believable plot. If you want a good, light read that keeps you gripped then this is just the job.My only wish is that the stories were a bit longer, but quality wins over quantity.

Always difficult to find another word to describe the excellence of Block's "magical" writing! Great that he has written so many books- how does he do it and also maintain his high standard?