Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 1/1/2022 + 1184 more book reviews

Another compelling read in the Matthew Scudder series. I think I have read over half of this series now in no particular order. This is the fifth book and I just recently finished A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, the ninth in the series. Now I just need to fill in some of the gaps which I will be looking forward to.

In this one, Scudder is hired by a prostitute named Kim who wants to get out of the business. She wants Scudder to meet with her pimp, Chance, and persuade him to let her go. Well Chance is hard to locate but when Scudder does track him down, he is willing to let Kim go with no strings attached. Then not long after Chance agrees to this, Kim is found brutally slain with a machete in a hotel room. So was Chance the killer? Or did he order it done? Scudder does not think so and sets out to find what really happened to Kim. As usual, this leads Scudder down some very dark paths among the down and out of New York.

I enjoyed this journey with Scudder and his cronies as he strives to remain sober. In this one he meets not only Chance but also Detective Durkin, who both show up in some of the subsequent novels in the series. Looking forward to reading the ones I've missed.

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