Matthew Scudder 1: Sins of the Father by Lawrence Block

Matthew Scudder 1
Sins of the Father
by Lawrence Block
HarperCollins, 1976

Scudder is a former cop turned unlicensed private detective. After a sex worker is killed and raped by her roommate, who promptly kills himself, her estranged step-father hires him to find out more about her life. I'm torn on this one, as it has excellent writing and characterization and horrible plotting.

Scudder is the tormented alcoholic type, upset by an accidental death, though also unashamed of being corrupt (accepting bribes, framing suspects, etc). Instead of dark secrets, Scudder's digging seems to make the situation less sordid as he went, and the accompanying dime store Freudianism didn't help.

The mystery, such that it was, was a complete cheat - no evidence, not even motive, just pulled it out of thin air.

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