Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 5/27/2023 + 1181 more book reviews

This is the 12th book in Block's Matt Scudder series. I have read all of the previous eleven books and I'll be looking forward to finishing the series. This is one of my favorite crime series...Matthew Scudder is a former cop who quit the force when a young girl was killed accidentally by his bullet during a gun fight. He becomes an unlicensed private investigator and has fought for years to stay sober by attending AA meetings religiously. In this novel, he is asked to investigate whether the deaths in a group of 31 men may not all be according to the laws of probability. The group is a supposed ancient brotherhood of 31 prosperous men who meet once a year to discuss the life happenings of each member. The current group was formed in the 60s and when there is only one survivor, a new group will be formed. But the death rate among the group seems extremely high with only fourteen remaining after thirty years. Could someone be killing the group members? But if so, what is the motive and why have the deaths been stretched out over thirty years. Scudder agrees to look into the case and finds that some of the deaths do indeed look questionable.

This was an unusual case for Scudder. It doesn't really involve any of the usual down and outs or the dregs of New York that he mostly gets involved with but it was still a very good novel in the series. Matt is still with Elaine, a former prostitute, but he is also seeing someone on the side. And then there are also the other wonderfully portrayed supporting characters including TJ, a young black street person who helps Matt with his cases, and Mick Ballou, a bar owner and mobster who Matt goes to for advice and long conversations. Great series that I recommend highly!

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