Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block is a remarkably prolific, remarkably versatile author of at least three different mystery series, as well as quite a few singletons. I was introduced to his work in August of 1998, and had read most of three of his series by the end of that year. I recommend them highly.

Bernie Rhodenbarr

Bernie Rhodenbarr is a Manhattan burglar and bookseller who has an unfortunate tendency to find corpses in the apartments he's burgling. The Bernie books are consistently amusing and enjoyable. The following list includes all of the Bernie books I've read to date, in no particular order. I should say, order doesn't matter much with this particular series.

• Burglars Can't Be Choosers

Reviews: 1 September 1998, 1 April 2002, 1 December 2002

• The Burglar in the Closet

Reviews: 1 August 1998, 1 April 2002, 1 December 2002

• The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling

Reviews: 1 August 1998, 1 April 2002

• The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams

Reviews: 1 August 1998, 1 December 1999, 1 October 2003

• The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart

Reviews: 1 October 1998, 1 April 2002, 1 July 2003

• The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian

Reviews: 1 March 1999, 1 April 2002, 1 December 2002, 1 October 2003

• The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza

Reviews: 1 December 1998, 1 April 2002, 1 March 2003, 1 October 2003

• The Burglar in the Library

Reviews: 1 September 1998, 1 April 2002, 1 April 2004

• The Burglar in the Rye

Reviews: 1 June 2000

Evan Michael Tanner

Evan Michael Tanner is Block's first character; he wrote a number of books about him in the 1960's, and then left him until very recently, when he wrote Tanner on Ice. Tanner is amazingly well-read; a supporter of every lost cause he has ever heard of, whether they are compatible or not; and completely unable to sleep, due to a brain injury he suffered in the Korean War. These books are thrillers, rather than mysteries proper, but no less enjoyable for that. So far as I can tell, only the first and the last volumes are in print in this country; I got the rest in English editions. The Tanner books are as follows, in the order they were written:

• The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep

Reviews: 1 October 1998

• The Cancelled Czech

Reviews: 1 October 1998

• Tanner's Twelve Swingers

Reviews: 1 October 1998

• Two for Tanner

Reviews: 1 October 1998

• Tanner's Tiger

Reviews: 1 October 1998

• Here Comes a Hero

Reviews: 1 November 1998

• Me Tanner, You Jane

Reviews: 1 November 1998

• Tanner on Ice

Reviews: 1 June 1999, 1 December 2002

Matthew Scudder

Finally, there is Matthew Scudder: ex-NYPD detective, alcoholic, occasionally violent. The Tanner and Bernie books are written for fun; these are considerably more serious, and deeper as well. Some are better than others, but I found them gripping enough that I read all thirteen of them in the course of a single month. I first read them out of order, which was OK, but they work better in order, which is how they are listed below:

• The Sins of the Fathers

Reviews: 1 October 1998, 1 October 1999, 1 February 2003

• Time to Murder and Create

Reviews: 1 October 1998, 1 October 1999, 1 February 2003

• In the Midst of Death

Reviews: 1 October 1998, 1 October 1999, 1 March 2003, 1 July 2003

• A Stab in the Dark

Reviews: 1 October 1998, 1 November 1999, 1 March 2003, 1 July 2003

• Eight Million Ways to Die

Reviews: 1 October 1998, 1 November 1999

• When the Sacred Ginmill Closes

Reviews: 1 October 1998, 1 November 1999

• Out on the Cutting Edge

Reviews: 1 October 1998, 1 November 1999

• A Ticket to the Boneyard

Reviews: 1 October 1998, 1 November 1999

• A Dance at the Slaughterhouse

Reviews: 1 October 1998, 1 December 1999

• A Walk among the Tombstones

Reviews: 1 October 1998, 1 December 1999

• The Devil Knows You're Dead

Reviews: 1 October 1998, 1 December 1999

• A Long Line of Dead Men

Reviews: 1 October 1998, 1 December 1999

• Even the Wicked

Reviews: 1 October 1998, 1 December 1999

• Everybody Dies

Reviews: 1 December 1999

• Hope to Die

Reviews: 1 April 2003

Books on Writing

• Telling Lies for Fun and Profit

Reviews: 1 May 2000

• Spider, Spin Me a Web.

Reviews: 1 April 1999

Other Books

• Hit Man

Reviews: 1 February 1999

• Hit List

Reviews: 1 March 2002

• The Topless Tulip Caper

Reviews: 1 May 1999

• No Score

Reviews: 1 July 1999

• Like a Lamb to Slaughter

Reviews: 1 July 2000

• Some Days You Get The Bear

Reviews: 1 June 2000