死への祈り [単行本]

[探偵マット・スカダー・シリーズ]
ある夜、マンハッタンの邸宅に住む弁護士のホランダー夫妻が、帰宅直後に惨殺
された!　資産家を狙った強盗の仕業と思われたその事件は、数日後に犯人たち
の死体が発見されたことによって決着を見た。しかし、被害者の姪から気がかり
な話を聞かされたスカダーは、背後に更なる"第三の男"が存在しているのではと
いう疑念を抱き、事件に潜む闇へと足を踏み入れていく......。姿なき悪意の影
にスカダーが挑むシリーズ新境地、待望の文庫化! --このテキストは、 文庫 版に関連付けられています。

マンハッタンの自宅で資産家夫妻が惨殺!数日後、容疑者が死体となって発見された…MWA・PWA両賞に輝く名匠が練達の筆致で描く―マット・スカダーシリーズ待望の最新作。

マンハッタンの自宅で資産家夫妻が惨殺された。数日後、容疑者が死体となって発見されるが…。マット・スカダーシリーズ待望の最新作。

Unlicensed PI Matthew Scudder returns after a three-year absence to investigate the murder of a wealthy couple savagely slain in their Manhattan townhouse. Matt's now 62, and his age shows in this relatively sedate outing. There's less violence than in many cases past, and the urban melancholy that pervaded his earlier tales has dissipated, replaced by a mature reckoning with the unending cycle of life and death. The mystery elements are strong. To the cops, the case is open-and-shut: the perps have been found dead, murder/suicide, in Brooklyn, with loot from the townhouse in their possession. Matt enters the scene when his assistant, TJ, introduces him to the cousin of the dead couple's daughter; the cousin suspects the daughter of having engineered the killings for the inheritance. At loose ends, Matt digs in, quickly rejecting the daughter as a suspect but uncovering evidence pointing to a mastermind behind the murders. Block sounds numerous obligatory notes from Scudder tales past the AA meetings, the tithing of Matt's income, cameo appearances by Matt's love interest, Elaine, and his friend, Irish mobster Mick Ballou and he adds texture with some familial drama involving Matt's sons and ex-wife. His prose is as smooth as aged whiskey, as always, and the story flows across its pages. It lacks the visceral edge and heightened emotion of many previous Scudders, however, and the ending seems patly aimed at a sequel. This is a solid mystery, a fine Block, but less than exceptional. (Nov.)Forecast: All Blocks sell and Scudder's return will do particularly well, especially with the attendant major ad/promo, including a 17-city author tour. Simultaneous Harper Audio and Harper large print edition.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

Twenty-five years ago Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Lawrence Block introduced his acclaimed unlicensed private investigator to the New York crime scene. Today Matthew Scudder remains one of the most complex, richly human protagonists in noir fiction-as he pursues a faceless adversary with a unique talent and taste for murder.

Hope to Die

When Byrne and Susan Hollander are killed in a brutal home invasion, the whole city catches its collective breath. A few days later the killers turn up dead behind a locked door in Brooklyn. One has killed his partner, then himself. The city sighs with relief. The cops close the case.

Matt and Elaine Scudder were in the same room with the Hollanders hours before their deaths. In spite of himself, Scudder is drawn to the Hollander case. The closer he looks, the more he senses the presence of a third man, a puppet master who manipulated his two accomplices, then cut their strings when he was done with them.

The villain who looms in the shadows is one of Block's most inspired creations, cold and diabolical, murdering for pleasure and profit. Nobody but Scudder even suspects he exists-and he's not done killing. He's just getting started....

The prolific author of more than fifty books and numerous short stories, Lawrence Block is a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, a four-time winner of the Edgar Allan Poe and Shamus Awards, and the recipient of literary prizes from France, Germany, and Japan. Block is a devout New Yorker who spends much of his time traveling.

--このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

“[Block’s] prose is as smooth as aged whiskey...and the story flows across its pages.” (Publishers Weekly )

“It’s all here; a perfect evocation of the sights, sounds, and smells of New York City.” (Library Journal )

“Remarkable...Block [is] one of the most graceful stylists around.” (The Washington Post Book World )

“Lawrence Block writes terrific books. His Matthew Scudder series is his best work.” (The Boston Sunday Globe )

“Compelling...One can only hope the Matt Scudder series will live on.” (Entertainment Weekly )

“A puzzler...So dry. So droll. So good for the native soul.” (Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review ) --このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

Lawrence Block lives and works in New York City. He is the author of many novels and short stories and has won over fourteen major awards for his mystery writing. --このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

ブロック,ローレンス
1938年6月24日、ニューヨーク生まれ。20代初めの頃から小説を発表し、作品の数は50冊を超える。『過去からの弔鐘』より始まったマット・スカダー・シリーズは、第9作『倒錯の舞踏』がMWA(アメリカ探偵作家クラブ)最優秀長篇賞、第11作『死者との誓い』がPWA(アメリカ私立探偵作家クラブ)最優秀長篇賞を授与された(邦訳はいずれも二見文庫)。また彼自身、MWAグランド・マスター賞を受賞している(本データはこの書籍が刊行された当時に掲載されていたものです)