A Stab in the Dark (Matthew Scudder #4) Paperback | Pages: 180 pages

Itemize Appertaining To Books A Stab in the Dark (Matthew Scudder #4)

Title	:	A Stab in the Dark (Matthew Scudder #4)
Author	:	Lawrence Block
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	First Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 180 pages
Published	:	May 1st 2002 by Avon Books (first published 1981)
Categories	:	Mystery. Crime. Fiction. Detective. Thriller

Representaion To Books A Stab in the Dark (Matthew Scudder #4)

This fourth book in the Matt Scudder series is an absorbing mystery in itself, but it also deepens and darkens Block's portrait of his hard-drinking, guilt-ridden hero, and, through the use of two effective foils (an alcoholic woman sculptor and a damaged former cop), increases Scudder's self-knowledge and points him toward change.

Scudder is hired to investigate the case of Barbara Ettinger, classified as a victim of “The Icepick Killer” when she was murdered nine years ago. But “The Icepick Killer” has recently been caught and—although he has frankly confessed to all the other crimes—he claims he had nothing to do with the Ettinger stabbing. Her father has begun to wonder: could the murderer be someone his daughter knew, someone closer to home?

Scudder, fueled by coffee laced with bourbon, takes a trip through Barbara's old neighborhood, uncovering witnesses, secrets, and suspects, and—as bourbon overwhelms the coffee--a few glimmers of truth about himself.

This is the first great Scudder novel, perfectly balanced between the tale itself and the evolution of the detective's character, and as such it is a crucial influence on the later adventures of Dave Robicheaux, Harry Bosch and others too numerous to name.

Essential reading for anyone who loves the hard-boiled detective novel.

Describe Books As A Stab in the Dark (Matthew Scudder #4)

Original Title:	A Stab in the Dark
ISBN:	0380715740 (ISBN13: 9780380715749)
Edition Language:	English
Series:	Matthew Scudder #4
Characters:	Matthew Scudder, Janice Corwin
Setting:	New York City, New York(United States)
Literary Awards:	Shamus Award Nominee for Best PI Hardcover (1982)

Rating Appertaining To Books A Stab in the Dark (Matthew Scudder #4)

Ratings: 4.01 From 4090 Users | 209 Reviews

Assessment Appertaining To Books A Stab in the Dark (Matthew Scudder #4)

Synopsis/blurb....Louis Pinell, the recently apprehended "Icepick Prowler," freely admits to having slain seven young women nine years ago -- but be swears it was a copycat who killed Barbara Ettinger Matthew Scudder believes him. ...In this 4th Matthew Scudder book, Scudder is asked to look into the murder of Charles Londons daughter, Barbara. At the time she was believed to have been a victim of the Icepick serial killer who has been recently arrested. Pinell, the killer has an alibi for when



Lawrence Block is just a great crime writer with a gift for creating characters and dialogue. He can be funny when he wants (see the Burglar books) but in this series he goes dark. The Matthew Scudder is an ex-cop with some serious demons in his past, and he fights them with a combination of bourbon and meditating in the back pews of empty churches. He's a product of pre-Giuliani New York City and he's as gritty as the streets he walks. He's complicated and real. He is a great detective for a

My least favorite of the Scudder books so far. My enjoyment of this series comes from Scudder dealing with all his personal issues not from the cases he runs. Not that the cases are bad, that's just not what thrills me. This book had a couple of those moments, talking with another cop who left the force, discussing drinking habits with a new girlfriend, a phone conversation with his ex-wife but not enough for me. Block does a good job of portraying the mundane aspects of investigating but that's

I think this my favorite Lawrence Block novel to date. Great stuff!

Matthew Scudder prowls the streets of New York in hope of finding a thread of a murder trail that has long been cold. A serial killer has confessed to the murder of seven woman, but insists he had nothing to do with the death of an eighth victim. The dead woman's father hires Scudder to investigate, and the facts he uncovers tend to confirm the killer's claim of innocence. This tells him a new killer purposely copied earlier crimeswhich makes it likely he had a personal motive. Scudder, very

I was in kind of a cranky mood when I began this installment of my adventures with Matthew Scudder- in one of those nitpicky modes where anything that can annoy you will do so. I even got so far as starting on a bit of a tirade regarding the use of an icepick as a murder weapon (see below). But, this is what makes Lawrence Block such a stud of an author- if I had just been patient, I would have saved myself from my own ramblings re. the dangerous weapon of choice, as Scudder, too, takes issue