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Learn moreLawrence Block’s seventeen Matthew Scudder novels have won the hearts of readers throughout the world—along with a bevy of awards including the Edgar, the Shamus, the Philip Marlowe (Germany), and the Maltese Falcon (Japan). But Scudder has starred in short fiction as well, and it’s all here, from a pair of late-70’s novelettes (Out the Window and A Candle for the Bag Lady) through “By the Dawn’s Early Light” (Edgar) and “The Merciful Angel of Death” (Shamus), all the way to “One Last Night at Grogan’s,” a moving and elegiac story never before published. Some of these stories appeared in such magazines as Alfred Hitchcock, Ellery Queen, and Playboy. The title vignette, “The Night and the Music,” was written for a NYC jazz festival program; another, “Mick Ballou Looks at the Blank Screen,” has appeared only as the text of a limited-edition broadside. Several stories look back from the time of their writing, with Scudder recounting events from his former life as a cop, first as a patrolman partnered with the legendary Vince Mahaffey, then as an NYPD detective leading a double life. Along with these eleven stories and novelettes, The Night and the Music includes a list of the seventeen novels in chronological order, and an author’s note detailing the origin and bibliographical details of each of the stories. Brian Koppelman, the prominent screenwriter and director (Solitary Man, Ocean’s Thirteen, Rounders) and a major Matt Scudder fan, has sweetened the pot with an introduction.
Lawrence Block is an award-winning, internationally renowned bestselling author. His prolific career spans over one hundred books, including four bestselling series as well as dozens of short stories, articles, and books on writing. Block lives in New York City with his wife, Lynne.
Lawrence Block is an award-winning, internationally renowned bestselling author. His prolific career spans over one hundred books, including four bestselling series as well as dozens of short stories, articles, and books on writing. Block lives in New York City with his wife, Lynne.
Reviews
“The Night and the Music is a collection of all the short stories about Matthew Scudder. Within there is a history of the detective many have followed over the years. The stories explore Scudder as well as other well-known characters and frame the entire life of the famous detective from his time on the force to what looks like retirement. The stories also all have a strong sense of place, as the author celebrates the good and bad of New York…In total, the stories could serve as either a companion to the books, if you’ve read them, or an introduction to the characters if you have not…Also included in the book is a touching introduction from Brian Koppleman where he discusses the impact the books had on him as a young man and what the characters mean to him now. It also includes a revealing author’s note that shines as a story of its own. This is a marvelous collection for fans of Scudder and for those who have never read those riveting books.”
“The majority of these shorts are reprints, but “Mick Ballou Looks at the Blank Screen” and “One Last Night at Grogan’s” are new to this volume and bring Scudder’s story up-to-date. Block mixes traditional procedural whodunits with more contemplative and anecdotal character-driven pieces. In the newer writings, Scudder is older, wiser, married (again), off the booze, and looking at life through more experienced eyes. Couched within the action are commentaries about the then looming AIDS crisis and the lingering problem of the homeless in New York, so there’s a conscience at work. Verdict: A quicker, more enjoyable read you won’t find. Veteran Scudder fans will rejoice at sharing his adventures again. May Block—and Scudder—never retire.”
“After twenty-five years in the business, Matt Scudder still strolls New York’s mean streets as if he had personally laid the cobblestones.”
“One of the very best writers now working the beat. Block has done something new and remarkable with the private-eye novel.”
“When Lawrence Block is in his Matt Scudder mode, crime fiction can sidle up so close to literature that often there’s no degree of difference.”
“One of the most complex and compelling heroes in modern fiction. Thrillers don't get better than this.”
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