Lawrence Block is one of the acknowledged masters of the Mystery, winning numerous accolades including the Edgar, Maltese Falcon, Nero Wolfe, and Shamus awards. He's been writing since the 1960's, is very prolific, and for many years was one of the leading columnists for Writer's Digest magazine. He has written many standalone novels, short stories, and nonfiction books, but is best know for his series. Lawrence Block lives and writes in New York City.
The Matthew Scudder Series
Matthew Scudder, in the earliest books in the series, is a hard-drinking, alcoholic ex-cop working as an unlicensed private investigator in New York City. Later in the series, Scudder sobers up, and his struggle to keep off the bottle, and his bulldog intensity as he investigates murders, form a strong connection and empathy with the reader. Later books, though they find Matt mellowing out a bit, and even getting married and finding a measure of happiness, maintain the gritty dialog, sharply-drawn characters, and and relentless tension Block's writing is known for.
Hope to Die
Unlicensed PI Matthew Scudder returns to investigate the murder of a wealthy couple savagely slain in their Manhattan townhouse.0 points
All the Flowers Are Dying
A man in a Virginia prison awaits execution for three horrific murders he must have committed but swears he didn't...0 points
Everybody Dies
Settled into married life, sober, and prepared to become a respectable high-priced detective working for New York City lawyers. But when his old buddy, Mick Ballou, comes to him because two of his runners end up murdered, Scudder finds himself sinking back into the muck of the underworld.0 points
A Long Line of Dead Men
Matthew Scudder has been asked to investigate a baffling, thirty-year run of suicides and suspiciously random accidents that has thinned the ranks of this very select group of gentlemen. But Scudder has mortality problems of his own, for his is a city that feeds mercilessly on the unsuspecting.0 points
The Devil Knows You're Dead
In this city, there is little sense and no rules. Those who fly the highest often come crashing down the hardest -- like successful young Glenn Holtzmann, randomly blown away by a deranged derelict at a corner phone booth on Eleventh Avenue.0 points
Even the Wicked
Matthew Scudder knows that justice is an elusive commodity in the big city, where a harmless man can be shot dead in a public place and criminals fly free through holes in a tattered legal system. But now a vigilante is roaming among the millions, executing those he fees deserve to die.0 points
A Walk Among the Tombstones
A ruthless, ingenious pair of entrepreneurial monsters is preying on the loved ones of those who live outside the law. Scudder must put the two thrill-kill extortionists out of business before another drop of innocent blood is spilled.0 points
A Dance at the Slaughterhouse
A successful socialite's beautiful wife was raped and murdered in her own home -- and Matt Scudder believes the victim's "grieving" husband was responsible for the outrage.0 points
A Ticket To The Boneyard
Twelve years ago, Matthew Scudder lied to a jury to put James Leo Motley behind bars. Now the ingenious psychopath is free. And the alcoholic ex-cop-turned-P.I. must pay dearly for his sins.0 points
Out on the Cutting Edge
Scudder understands the futility of his search for a longtime missing Midwestern innocent who wanted to be an actress. But her frantic father hires Schudder to scour Hell's Kitchen looking for anything that might resemble a lead.0 points
When the Sacred Ginmill Closes
In the dark days, in a sad and lonely place, ex-cop Matt Scudder is drinking his life away -- and doing "favors" for pay for his ginmill cronies. But when three such assignments flow together in dangerous and disturbing ways, he'll need to change his priorities from boozing to surviving.0 points
Eight Million Ways To Die
Nobody knows better than Matthew Scudder how far down a person can sink in this city. A young prostitute named Kim knew it also -- and she wanted out. Maybe Kim didn't deserve the life fate had dealt her. She surely didn't deserve her death.0 points
A Stab in the Dark
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.0 points
Time to Murder and Create
Scudder investigates the death of a small-time hood who, knowing he was marked for death, paid Scudder in advance to solve his murder.0 points
In the Midst of Death
Bad cop Jerry Broadfield didn't make any friends on the force when he volunteered to squeal about police corruption. Now he's accused of murdering a call girl.0 points
The Sins of the Fathers
The pretty young prostitute is dead, and her alleged murderer hanged himself in his jail cell. But the dead girl's father comes to Scudder for answers, sending the unlicensed private investigator in search of terrible truths about a life that was lived and lost in a sordid world of perversion and pleasures.0 points
The Bernie Rhodenbarr Series
Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr is, by day, a mild-mannered bookseller. By night, Bernie's a gentleman burglar. The former occupation doesn't pay so well, but the latter most certainly does. Bernie is an endearing and amusing burglar, and the books themselves are lighthearted tales of his capers and escapades, in which he seemingly always manages to find himself caught with a dead body or two, and must find the true killer in order to extricate himself and prove his innocence (of the murder, at least). Somehow, he always seems to manage.
The Burglar on the Prowl
Bernie is recruited by an old friend to burgle the home of a crooked plastic surgeon, removing some off-the-books cash from a wall safe. A simple enough job, but Bernie feels the need to complicate matters.0 points
The Burglar in the Rye
Our hero invades the hotel suite of an aged literary agent in search of a cache of letters, by a respected and reclusive writer, that are wanted by people both legitimate and not.0 points
The Burglar in the Library
Book thief Bernie Rhodenbarr has his work cut out for him when, in the wake of a paralyzing winter storm, a body is discovered in the library of a bed-and-breakfast.0 points
The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart
Out of all the bookstores in all the towns in all the world, this girl named Ilona happens to walk into Bernie's. Then things start to get complicated fast.0 points
The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams
Burglar/Greenwich Village bookseller Bernie Rhodenbarr discovers a dead body in the apartment and is accused of stealing a $1 million baseball card collection.0 points
The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian
Someone has framed Bernie Rhodenbarr better than they do it at the Whitney. And if he wants to get out of this corner he's been masterfully painted into, he'll have to get to the bottom of a rather artful -- if multiply murderous -- scam.0 points
The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza
Bookselling burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr doesn't generally get philosophical about his criminal career. He's good at it, it's addictively exciting, and it pays a whole lot better than pushing old tomes. He steals therefore he is, period.0 points
Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling
The literature-loving burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr is framed for murder after pilfering a Kipling manuscript.0 points
The Burglar in the Closet
Secrecy and a deft touch are the hallmarks of every successful burglar. Or so thinks Bernie Rhodenbarr before he gets a shocking proposal from his dentist.0 points
Burglars Can't Be Choosers
Bernie underestimated the difficulty of breaking into a posh East Side apartment to steal a blue leather-covered box. No box, dead body, bum murder rap. Not so easy.0 points
The John Keller (Hitman) Series
John Keller is your basic New York single guy, living alone, eating out or bringing home takeout, schlepping his wash to the Laundromat, doing the Times crossword with his morning coffee... Except that every once in a while he got a phone call from a man in White Plains, and he packed a bag, caught a plane and killed somebody.
Hit Man
When the phone rings, Keller packs a suitcase, gets on a plane, flies halfway across the country...and kills somebody. It's a living. But is it a life? Keller's not sure.0 points
Hit and Run
Keller's a hit man. For years now he's had places to go and people to kill. But now Keller is stranded halfway across the country with every cop in America on the lookout for him. Now what?0 points
Hit List
Someone out there is trying to hit the hit man. Keller, God help him, has found his way onto somebody else's hit list.0 points
Hit Parade
John Keller returns in these loosely linked, well-crafted vignettes of the protagonist on assignment, blithely but expertly eliminating a grab bag of targets.0 points
The Evan Tanner Series
Evan Tanner, the spy who never sleeps, lost the ability to sleep when he was wounded in Korea. He's been awake ever since -- learning languages, writing term papers and theses for lazy scholars, and supporting political lost causes and national splinter groups and irridentist movements.
Tanner On Ice
Where the heck has cold War superspy Evan Tanner been since the '70s? Frozen. Cryogenically. A Tanner-sicle. Now he's unthawed and ready to rumble.0 points
The Canceled Czech
Tanner takes on jobs for a covert intelligence organization so secret that even those who work for it have no idea who they're working for. Now he must sneak behind the Iron Curtain, storm an impregnable castle in Prague, and rescue an old Slovak who's got a pressing date with a hangman's noose.0 points
The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep
The Russians think Tanner is a CIA operative on a covert mission. The CIA is certain he's a Soviet agent. Actually, he's in Turkey pursuing a fortune in hidden Armenian gold.0 points
Me Tanner, You Jane
It's a jungle out there. Literally. At least for Evan Tanner, eternally sleepless sometime superspy, who finds himself in Africa on the trail of the AWOL ruler of tiny Modonoland.0 points
Tanner's Virgin
Is Tanner a spy, a mercenary, a footloose adventurer, or simply a screwball sucker for hopeless causes? One thing's for sure: Tanner's a true romantic, which is why he can't refuse a distraught mother who begs him to rescue her lost, pure-as-driven-snow daughter.0 points
Tanner's Tiger
The Cold War's boiling over. Global tensions are near the breaking point. So what's the perfect assignment for a super-spy who hasn't slept since the Korean conflict? A fun-filled trip to the Montreal World's Fair!0 points
The Scoreless Thai
Tanner's in Thailand with a partially baked plan and a butterfly net, hoping to snare a beautiful missing chanteuse who's metamorphosed into an international jewel thief.0 points
Tanner's Twelve Swingers
Tanner's agreed to smuggle a sexy Latvian gymnast - the lost lady love of a heart-sick friend - out of Russia. With the Cold War at its chilliest and the Iron Curtain slammed shut, this will not be easy.0 points
Lawrence Block Short Story Collections
The Collected Mystery Stories: Non-Stop Suspense from the Grandmaster of Crime
This omnibus edition contains 58 previously-published Lawrence Block mysteries, plus 12 additional stories.0 points
Some Days You Get the Bear
The bear is on the prowl in many different guises. So beware of the this huge, dangerous beast. Because first he will enthrall you... and then he will strike.0 points
Speaking of Greed: Stories of Envious Desire
The second volume in the Seven Deadly Sins series, "Speaking of Greed" is a collection of short stories on the destructive deadly sin known as greed.0 points
Speaking of Lust: Stories of Forbidden Desire
This first volume in the Seven Deadly Sins Series, "Speaking of Lust" is a collection of outstanding short stories on that exceedingly deadly sin we call lust.0 points
Enough Rope by Lawrence Block
"Enough Rope", a collection of superb stories, establishes the extraordinary skill, power, and versatility of contemporary Grand Master Lawrence Block.0 points
Like a Lamb to Slaughter by Lawrence Block
They are poor little lambs who have lost their way: a murderous madman feigning madness; a beautiful woman, dangerous to look at and lethal to touch; a shy little boy quietly testing his newfound power to destroy.0 points
Other Fiction by Lawrence Block
Small Town: A Novel
Lawrence Block reveals the Big Apple as a small town, filled with men and women from all walks of life whose aspirations, fears, disappointments, and triumphs are interconnected by bonds as unbreakable as they are unseen.0 points
Random Walk
It begins in the Pacific Northwest. Guthrie decides to take a walk. He doesn't know how far he's going or where he's going. A journey of any length begins with a single step and Guthrie takes it, facing east.0 points
Not Comin' Home to You
He is Jimmie John Hall, "free and white and 22". Her name is Betty Dienhardt, plain, friendless, and oppressed by a bleak home life. In each other, they find a chance for love and fulfillment. But they are doomed.0 points
After the First Death
A suspenseful tale of a man haunted by murders he hopes he hasn't committed...0 points
The Specialists by Lawrence Block
Five ex-soldiers are hired to find and eliminate criminals in the Edgar Award-winning author's gripping novel.0 points
The Girl With the Long Green Heart
Johnny and Doug, old cronies, think up an elaborate real estate scam--but who really gets taken?0 points
Grifter's Game
Con man Joe Marlin was used to scoring easy cash off beautiful women. But that was before he met Mona Brassard and found himself facing the most dangerous con of his career, one that will leave him either a killer -- or a corpse.0