book reviews forevermore

A lightweight read at only 156 pages. Good suspense and interesting mystery.In this one, a serial killer is caught by police. The catch? He only confesses to seven of the murders and has an airtight alibi for the eighth. The father of the eighth victim realizes he needs a new kind of closure and hires Scudder to investigate. He pursues it like a terrier; hanging on, chasing down leads from nine years ago, drinking his way through the city. After he interviews the remarried husband and his new wife, he looks up the owner of the daycare center where the victim worked. She's now a sculptor in the Village and struggling with alcohol as well. Personal collides with professional. Eventually, the client makes a feeble effort to call Scudder off, but like the terrier down the rat hole, he won't let up.This one is notable for Scudder's drinking picking up pace, clearly speeding him along to rock bottom. Slowly, it dawned on me as I read that Scudder's drinking was out of control. There's a few moments when he realizes it and pulls back, but never for long. It's interesting the way Block writes it; the murders capture the reader's attention while Scudder slowly slides off the bar stool in the background. Definitely a likeable read, with a surprise ending to the murder that I'm not entirely sure was believable.