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Matthew Scudder commonly referred to as Matt is a literary character and most loved creation by all-time American crime author Lawrence Block. The character first appeared in Sins of the Fathers in the 70’s- in which he is described as an alcoholic retired cop who had resigned from his job from the NYPD after accidentally killing a young lady. He lives in a hotel in Hell’s Kitchen and earns his daily living working as a private detective or either working some favors for his friends. The early entries of the series mostly focus on the scenes in which Matthew Scudder is mostly seen being alone and mostly in churches tithing and lighting taper for to honor the dead and mostly for the soul of the girl he had accidentally killed.
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Order of Matthew Scudder Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Sins of the Fathers | 1976 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Time to Murder and Create | 1976 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | In the Midst of Death | 1976 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | A Stab in the Dark | 1981 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Eight Million Ways to Die | 1982 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | When the Sacred Ginmill Closes | 1986 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Out on the Cutting Edge | 1989 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | A Ticket to the Boneyard | 1990 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | A Dance at the Slaughterhouse | 1991 | Description / Buy | |
| 10 | A Walk Among the Tombstones | 1992 | Description / Buy | |
| 11 | The Devil Knows You're Dead | 1993 | Description / Buy | |
| 12 | A Long Line of Dead Men | 1994 | Description / Buy | |
| 13 | Even the Wicked | 1996 | Description / Buy | |
| 14 | Out the Window (Short Story) | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 15 | Everybody Dies | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 16 | Hope to Die | 2001 | Description / Buy | |
| 17 | A Moment of Wrong Thinking (Short Story) | 2002 | Description / Buy | |
| 18 | All the Flowers are Dying | 2005 | Description / Buy | |
| 19 | A Drop of the Hard Stuff | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
| 20 | Let's Get Lost (Short Story) | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
| 21 | A Candle for the Bag Lady (Short Story) | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
| 22 | A Time to Scatter Stones | 2018 | Description / Buy | |
| 23 | The Autobiography of Matthew Scudder | 2023 | Description / Buy |
Get notified when Lawrence Block releases a new book at BookNotification.com.
Order of Matthew Scudder Short Story Collections
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | One Night Stands and Lost Weekends | 1999 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | The Night and the Music | 2011 | Description / Buy |
It is until in the early 1980’s in the Eight Million Ways to Die when Scudder makes a significant move when visits Alcoholic Anonymous meeting. The author had planned to conclude the series, but a promised he had made to an editor pal resulted in the publication of the series epilog By the Dawn’s Early Light- a story written detailing Scudder’s alcoholic days but from recoverer point of view.
MATTHEW SCUDDER AWARDS
Mathew Scudder series by Lawrence Block has been nominated and also won various awards. For instance, the book Eight Million Ways to Die was a nominated for 1983 Edgar Awards for Best Novel category while By Dawns Early Light won the 1985 Edgar Award for the Best Short Story category. When the Sacred Ginmill Closes was nominated for the 1987 Antony Awards under the Best Novel category, the same book was nominated for the Shamus Award in the same year. Out on the Cutting Edge was nominated for the 1990 Shamus Awards for the Best Category novel. Lawrence Block won the 2009 Shamus Award for the Best Character Award, Matt Scudder.
MATTHEW SCUDDER BOOKS INTO MOVIES
8 Million Ways to Die was adapted to an American Crime Film which premiered in 1986. The film was directed by Hal Ashby. Robert Towne wrote the screenplay while Jeff Bridges, Andy Garcia, and Rosanna Arquette starring in the movie, with Andy Garcia playing the leading role.
BEST MATTHEW SCUDDER BOOKS
These are best of the books of Matt Scudder series by Lawrence Block:
Eight Million Ways to Die: Kim Dakkinen a professional and highly valued prostitute wants to quit her job. She hires Matthew Scudder, a private investigator to face her boss, Chance indicating that chance will not let her quit if she faced him.
Finding Chance himself seems an impossible task, but when Matt finally meets him, Chance informs Matt that Kim wasted her money and that he cannot hold any lady against her will. To prove this Chance has six women whom he provides them with food, clothing and their necessities.
After collecting his fee and a bonus, he heads to the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting – the next morning he learns from the news that a call girl was brutally murdered and turns out to be Kim.
Matt is confident that Chance was indeed involved in the death of Kim, but a dilemma arises when Chance hires him to prove that he is innocent. The only lead that Matt has is Kim’s expensive coat and a ring which Chance claims he did not buy her the items. A young hooligan then attacks Matt but fortunately, manages to fight him- he is later warned to stay out of the case by a Man who finds out about the assault by the hooligan.
While doing investigations, he tries to be sober. Sunny one of Chance call girls commits suicide; then a transsexual hooker is killed in a Queens motel- the wounds on the body of the deceased are similar to that of Kim. Matt must use the clues available to figure out the crazed serial killer as well fight to survive when he learn that he might be the next victim.
The Sins of the Fathers: When a young hooker is murdered in Greenwich Apartment, the girl’s father asks Matt Scudder- a private investigator to intervene. The prime suspect in the killing- a minister son is also dead, apparently committed suicide. With his investigations, Matt will soon find out the evils that exist and murderous lust where sons and daughters die for the sins of their parents.
OTHER BOOK SERIES YOU MAY LIKE
If you love Matt Scudder series, you will love these two book series. Parker series by Richard Stark, a story of a master thief named Parker Lew Archer series by Ross Macdonald a story about Lew Archer a retired cop and a private detective based in Los Angeles.
What Is The Next Book in The Matthew Scudder Series?
There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Matthew Scudder Series. The newest book is The Autobiography of Matthew Scudder and was released on June, 24th 2023.