Lawrence Block — timeless
by Oline H. Cogdill
March 3rd, 2010Back in the mid-1980s, I was just returning to mysteries after a few years of not reading the genre. I had always been a mystery fan, having discovered the pleasures of the genre thanks to my mother.
But there was about 8 years when the genre just wasn’t speaking to me.
Then, of course, I found Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky, Marcia Muller and my whole world reopened.
During the mid-’80s, I sat near a guy named Dave. Nice guy but we had nothing in common except mysteries.
So one day Dave brought in this beat-up, slim book with the cover half torn. Wasn’t much to look at but it was what was inside that counted.
The book was Lawrence Block’s The Sins of the Fathers, which was published in 1976. Yes, I still remember the title all these many, many years later.
Dave then brought me Time to Murder and Create (1977), Eight Million Ways to Die (1982) and, best of all, When the Sacred Ginmill Closes (1986). He then brought me a couple of novels in the Bernie Rhodenbarr series — Burglars Can’t Be Choosers (1977), The Burglar in the Closet (1978) and The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling (1979).
And I was hooked.
Block’s novels opened a new window for me with mysteries. He produced the perfect storm of characters, dialogue and gritty setting.
Here was Matthew Scudder, an alcoholic ex-cop working as an unlicensed private investigator.
Here was Bernie Rhodenbarr, a burglar with a heart. The two series couldn’t have been more different.
The Scudders were hard-boiled, a bit rough around the edges and gave me a new view of the private investigator genre. The Bernie’s were much lighter, with lots of humor and a bit of cynicism. Both had dialogue that was crisp and believable.
I shouldn’t say was since Block is still writing these novels.
I have followed Block’s novels through the years. Scudder and Bernie are still favorites as are the novels about the stamp-collecting hit man Keller.
So I was thrilled when Block joined the Mystery Scene team with a new column that began in the Holiday Issue 2009, No. 112.
Block is a devoted New Yorker who has spend the past 50 years in the middle of the New York publishing world with myriad editors, agents and mystery fiction’s top writers.
In his Mystery Scene columns, he not only gives witty reminisces, but he also has some unique insight into the work and characters of many wonderful writers’ characters and their work.
Block’s Mystery Scene columns are the first thing I turn to – after, of course, my own stories and reviews.
Here it is nearly 25 years after Dave introduced me to Lawrence Block. His work is still the great connector.
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