A Long Line of Dead Men 3.5 of 5 stars ⭐ This is the usual Matt Scudder fare…just not as good

 This is the usual Matt Scudder fare…just not as good

A Long Line of Dead Men 3.5 of 5 stars ⭐ 

By Lawrence Block

This book has a great hook, it draws you in immediately. A club of thirty-one successful men, meet once a year for dinner. They start every meeting by reading the names of the members who have died. It's a kind of a memento mori, a remembrance, you must die. Until one year, a member notices there's too many names on that list, and hires Matt Scudder to investigate.

The group is down to 14 members, 17 dead, instead of the statistical norm of 4-5 in the 32 years since it started. There are some physical ailments, accidents and suicides. But It's the number of murders that first grabs Scudder's attention. He also knows, (being a former cop) suicides and accidents can be faked. Cops have too much to do to investigate these too closely, and things get missed. Matt agrees there might be something to this, and agrees to take the case. Besides, as always, he's looking for something substantial to do. And, he could always use the money.

This is the usual Matt Scudder fare. However, there were some parts that dragged. I put this squarely on the editor. Early Scudder books were about half the size of this one, and twice as good. There's a lot of conversations that drone on way to long. It felt like Block was afraid he wouldn't make his word quota, and was adding filler. I've never seen much of that before in this series. Usually, it feels as if he's living it out in his mind, instead of creating a product.

Block usually leaves lots of possible outcomes for you to wonder about. He leaves many stones along the trail to be looked under. But in this story, there aren't enough. It felt too pointed, and I kept thinking, "It can't be him, that's too obvious."

Possible spoiler:

Matt takes Jim Shorter, a witness to one of the murders, to an AA meeting. Afterward, they go for coffee, and the whole scene is wholly unbelievable. The conversation between them seems to be pointing an arrow right at Shorter as being "the guy". But we're supposed to believe Matt doesn't pick up on this? Shorter is obviously pumping him for information, but Scudder, a former cop, doesn't see it? This, and the very few other possible suspects available, made this less enjoyable than other Scudder books. 

(End spoiler)

On a personal note:

I was glad to see Scudder keep his room at the Northwestern Hotel. I'm a person who needs touchstones in a series, and since he's lost his barstool at Armstrong's, this is about as good as it gets. Besides, who would give up a rent controlled room in Manhattan? I was also glad to see Mickey Ballou (my favorite character) return. He adds a real noir touch to the Scudder novels. I could say the same about Elaine. She's the perfect fit for Matt, a woman with few expectations.