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Matthew Scudder emerges fully grown from the forehead of his prolific creator, Lawrence Block. in Sins of the Fathers he meets with the father of a 20 something woman who has recently been viciously stabbed to death. Her supposed killer, her younger roommate, hanged himself in his cell, so the police consider the case solved. But her adoptive father would like to know more about Wendy's life since she left home, and Scudder, carefully telling Hanniford that he is not a licensed P.I., agrees to help. Scudder promptly has another drink or three, then goes to a church to meditate and give 10% of his fee to the poor. He decides to try and see what he can do to help the Hannifords deal with the death of a daughter. Wendy's roommate, Richie Vanderpoel, didn't seem like the kind of person to commit so horrific a crime. When Scudder gets to their Greenwich Village apartment, he finds that Wendy slept in the bedroom and Richie used the pull out couch in the living room. He also learns that she worked as a prostitute. He goes to Brooklyn to see Richie's dour minister father, and gets no help there. He goes and has a few more drinks,goes to see Elaine, and thinks some more. All the elements that endear Scudder to us are here in the first book of the series. He's a broody drunk who tithes to any church he happens to be near when he gets a commission. He visits Elaine, who is still a working girl, but who already owns apartment houses in Queens. We learn why he quit the police force, and, best of all, we revel in New York. One reviewer has called Sudder cynical. He's not. He's just a realistic New Yorker. I am going to have a good summer, working through the series again. Editor's Note: This book was originally published in 1976. First paperback edition was in September, 1991. This is the new reprint, 2002.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, May 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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