When the Sacred Ginmill Closes

When the Sacred Ginmill Closes is one of the standout novels in Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder series and one of the most structurally distinctive books in the whole run. The narrator, in a bar late at night, is asked by an old friend about the past, and the story reaches back several years to a tangle of interlocking events: Miss Kitty's bar is held up at gunpoint and the patrons are robbed of their money; a ledger from the bar "Little Miss Kitty" recording customers' tabs and private affairs is stolen, leaving its owner unable to eat or sleep; Mrs. DeLury is murdered in her own apartment, and the scene is full of suspicious details. Three seemingly unrelated cases, yet in each one someone finds their way to Matthew Scudder—then unlicensed, scraping by as a private investigator who gathers information for people—and asks him to uncover the truth. Scudder moves between Manhattan's bars, taverns, and back alleys asking questions while wrestling with his own alcoholism. He observes the exhaustion, endurance, and dignity of the bars' late-night regulars, piecing together fragments through conversation after conversation. The gaps between clues gradually align, and the ins and outs of the three cases finally surface—but the truth brings not clean justice, but a heavy sense of proportion that one must bear oneself. The book's mystery element is not elaborate; its focus is urban atmosphere and character: New York's night, the smell of liquor, old relationships, and loneliness are all part of the narrative. It is a fitting entry point for understanding Matthew Scudder and why Block is called "a melancholy soul wandering New York."