About

Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block (born June 24, 1938) is an American crime fiction author. He has written over 100 novels and 200 short stories, and is best known for his character Matthew Scudder, an alcoholic private investigator. Block was born in Buffalo, New York and attended Antioch College. After graduating, he worked as a copywriter and editor before turning to writing full-time in 1962. Block's novels have won numerous awards, including the Edgar Award and the Shamus Award. He has also been inducted into the Bouchercon Hall of Fame and the Crime Writers' Association Hall of Fame. Block's writing is known for its gritty realism and its exploration of moral dilemmas. His characters are often flawed and complex, and his stories are often dark and suspenseful. Block is a master of the crime fiction genre, and his work has been praised by critics and readers alike.

Book Series by Lawrence Block

Bernie Rhodenbarr Series

Burglars Can't Be Choosers

1977

The Burglar in the Closet

1978

The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling

1979

The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza

1980

The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian

1983

Like a Thief in the Night (Short Story)

1983

The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams

1994

The Burglar Takes a Cat (Short Story)

1994

The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart

1995

The Burglar in the Library

1997

The Burglar in the Rye

1998

The Burglar Who Dropped in on Elvis (Short Story)

1999

The Burglar on the Prowl

2001

The Burglar Who Smelled Smoke (Short Story)

2011

A Bad Night for Burglars (Short Story)

2011

The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons

2013

The Burglar in Short Order

2020

The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown

2022

Chip Harrison Series

No Score

1970

Chip Harrison Scores Again

1971

Make Out with Murder

1974

The Topless Tulip Caper

1975

As Dark as Christmas Gets (Short Story)

2011

Death of the Mallory Queen

2016

Chronological Chip Harrison Series

No Score

1970

Chip Harrison Scores Again

1971

Make Out with Murder

1974

The Topless Tulip Caper

1975

Death of the Mallory Queen

2016

As Dark as Christmas Gets (Short Story)

2011

Evan Tanner Series

The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep

1966

The Canceled Czech

1966

Tanner's Twelve Swingers

1967

Here Comes a Hero / Tanner's Virgin

1968

The Scoreless Thai / Two for Tanner

1968

Tanner's Tiger

1968

Me Tanner, You Jane

1986

Tanner on Ice

1998

Jill Emerson Series as Jill Emerson

A Madwoman's Diary / Sensuous

1972

Getting Off

2011

The Trouble with Eden

2016

Shadows

2016

Enough of Sorrow

2016

Threesome

2016

Warm and Willing

2016

Thirty

2016

John Keller Series

Hit Man

1998

Hit List

2000

Hit Parade

2006

Hit and Run

2008

Keller in Dallas

2009

Hit Me

2012

Keller's Adjustment

2012

Keller on the Spot

2013

Keller's Therapy (Short Story)

2013

Keller's Horoscope

2013

Keller's Fedora (Short Story)

2016

Keller's Homecoming (Short Story)

2016

Keller's Designated Hitter (Short Story)

2016

Keller the Dogkiller (Short Story)

2016

Keller in Des Moines (Short Story)

2016

Quotidian Keller (Short Story)

2017

Keller on Horseback (Short Story)

2021

Kit Tolliver Series

If You Can't Stand the Heat

2013

Rude Awakening

2013

You Can Call Me Lucky

2013

Clean Slate

2013

Waitress Wanted

2013

Jilling (Short Story)

2013

Conjugal Rites

2013

One Kind Favor I Ask of You

2013

Don't Get in the Car

2013

Fun with Brady and Angelica

2013

Zeroing In

2013

Unfinished Business

2013

Lou Largo Series with William Ard

Babe in the Woods

1960

Manhattan Noir Series

Manhattan Noir

2006

Manhattan Noir 2: The Classics

2008

Matthew Scudder Series

The Sins of the Fathers

1976

Time to Murder and Create

1976

In the Midst of Death

1976

A Stab in the Dark

1981

Eight Million Ways to Die

1982

When the Sacred Ginmill Closes

1986

Out on the Cutting Edge

1989

A Ticket to the Boneyard

1990

A Dance at the Slaughterhouse

1991

A Walk Among the Tombstones

1992

The Devil Knows You're Dead

1993

A Long Line of Dead Men

1994

Even the Wicked

1996

Out the Window (Short Story)

1997

Everybody Dies

1998

Hope to Die

2001

A Moment of Wrong Thinking (Short Story)

2002

All the Flowers are Dying

2005

A Drop of the Hard Stuff

2011

Let's Get Lost (Short Story)

2011

A Candle for the Bag Lady (Short Story)

2012

A Time to Scatter Stones

2018

The Autobiography of Matthew Scudder

2023

Murderous Christmas Stories Series

Murder under the Christmas Tree: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season

2016

Murder on Christmas Eve

2017

A Very Murderous Christmas: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season

2018

Murder at Christmas: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season

2019

Murder on a Winter's Night

2021

Murder in the Falling Snow

2022

Paul Kavanagh Series as Paul Kavanagh

Such Men are Dangerous

1969

The Triumph of Evil

1972

Not Comin' Home to You

1974

Seven Deadly Sins Series

Speaking of Lust: Stories of Forbidden Desire

2001

Speaking of Greed: Stories of Envious Desire

2001

Speaking of Wrath

2002

Transgressions Series

Transgressions ( With: Stephen King, Anne Perry, Jeffery Deaver, Sharyn McCrumb, Ed McBain, Donald E Westlake, Bonnie Jeanne Perry, Joyce Carol Oates, Walter Mosley, John Farris)

2005

Transgressions, Vol. 2 ( With: Stephen King, Ed McBain, John Farris)

2006

Transgressions, Vol. 3 ( By: Anne Perry, Sharyn McCrumb, Ed McBain, Donald E Westlake, John Farris)

2006

Transgressions, Vol. 4 ( By: Anne Perry, Sharyn McCrumb, Ed McBain)

2006

Lawrence Block Other Novels

Carla

1958

Into the Night ( With: Cornell Woolrich)

1959

69 Barrow Street

1959

Campus Tramp

1959

Candy

1960

A Girl Called Honey

1960

Kept

1960

A Strange Kind of Love

1960

The Adulterers

1960

Grifter's Game / Mona / Sweet Slow Death

1961

A Diet of Treacle

1961

Cinderella Sims

1961

Killing Castro

1961

Coward's Kiss / Death Pulls a Doublecross

1961

$20 Lust / Cinderella Sims

1961

The Twisted Ones

1961

Borderline

1962

The Case of the Pornographic Photos / Markham / You Could Call it Murder

1962

Strange Embrace

1962

Sin Hellcat

1962

Lucky at Cards

1964

The Girl with the Long Green Heart

1965

Deadly Honeymoon

1967

After the First Death

1969

The Specialists

1969

Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man

1971

A Week as Andrea Benstock

1975

Ariel

1979

Code of Arms ( With: Harold King)

1981

Random Walk

1988

The Lost Cases of Ed London

2001

Small Town

2002

Community of Women

2010

The Girl with the Deep Blue Eyes

2015

Passport to Peril ( With: Anne Campbell Clark)

2016

Sinner Man

2016

April North / High School Sex Club

2019

Dead Girl Blues

2020

Lawrence Block Short Stories/Novellas

Collecting Ackermans (Short Story)

1979

By the Dawn's Early Light (Short Story)

1984

The Merciful Angel of Death (Short Story)

1993

A Chance to Get Even (Short Story)

2011

Dolly's Trash & Treasures (Short Story)

2011

Welcome to the Real World (Short Story)

2011

Who Knows Where It Goes (Short Story)

2011

Scenarios (Short Story)

2011

Headaches and Bad Dreams (Short Story)

2011

Sweet Little Hands (Short Story)

2011

You Don't Even Feel It (Short Story)

2011

In For a Penny (Short Story)

2011

Three in the Side Pocket (Short Story)

2011

Like a Bone in the Throat (Short Story)

2011

Nothing Short of Highway Robbery (Short Story)

2013

The Ehrengraf Fandango (Short Story)

2014

I Know How to Pick 'Em (Short Story)

2014

Autumn at the Automat (Short Story)

2016

Resume Speed (Short Story)

2016

Lawrence Block Short Story Collections

Like a Lamb to Slaughter

1984

Sometimes They Bite

1984

Some Days You Get the Bear

1993

By the Dawn's Early Light: And Other Stories

1994

The Collected Mystery Stories

1999

Enough Rope

2002

The Crazy Years

2004

Catch and Release

2011

Defender of the Innocent: The Casebook of Martin Ehrengraf

2014

Resume Speed and Other Stories

2018

From Sea to Stormy Sea

2019

Lawrence Block Plays

How Far (Short Story)

2011

Lawrence Block Non-Fiction Books

The Wife-Swap Report

1970

3 is Not a Crowd

1971

Sex and the Stewardess

1972

The Sex Therapists

1972

Different Strokes

1974

Total Sexuality

1974

Writing the Novel from Plot to Print to Pixel

1979

Telling Lies for Fun & Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers

1981

Write for Your Life

1986

Spider, Spin Me A Web: A Handbook for Fiction Writers

1988

After Hours: Conversations With Lawrence Block

1995

Gangsters, Swindlers, Killers, and Thieves: The Lives and Crimes of Fifty American Villains

2004

Step by Step: A Pedestrian Memoir

2009

The Liar's Bible

2011

The Liar's Companion

2011

The Male Hustler (Short Story)

2012

Wide Open

2012

Doing It! - Going Beyond the Sexual Revolution

2012

Come Fly With Us (Short Story)

2012

Beyond Group Sex

2012

The Crime of Our Lives

2015

Hunting Buffalo With Bent Nails

2019

A Writer Prepares

2021

Afterthoughts: Version 2.0

2021

Matthew Scudder Short Story Collections

One Night Stands and Lost Weekends

1999

The Night and the Music

2011

L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories Series with Joe R. Lansdale, Joyce Carol Oates, Megan Abbott, Duane Swierczynski, Andrew Vachss, Francine Prose, Jonathan Santlofer

L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories ( With: Joe R. Lansdale, Joyce Carol Oates, Megan Abbott, Duane Swierczynski, Andrew Vachss, Francine Prose, Jonathan Santlofer)

2010

Black Dahlia White Rose ( By: Joyce Carol Oates)

2011

The Men's Adventure Library Journal Series

He-Men, Bag Men & Nymphos ( By: Robert Deis, Wyatt Doyle, Walter Kaylin)

2013

Cryptozoology Anthology ( By: David Coleman, Wyatt Doyle)

2015

A Handful of Hell ( By: Robert Deis, Wyatt Doyle, Robert F. Dorr)

2016

Barbarians on Bikes (Short Story) ( By: Paul Bishop, Robert Deis, Wyatt Doyle)

2016

I Watched Them Eat Me Alive (Short Story) ( By: Robert Deis, Wyatt Doyle)

2017

Pollen's Women (Short Story) ( By: Robert Deis, Wyatt Doyle, Samson Pollen)

2018

Cuba: Sugar, Sex, and Slaughter ( By: Robert Deis, Wyatt Doyle)

2018

Pollen's Action (Short Story) ( By: Robert Deis, Wyatt Doyle, Samson Pollen)

2019

Eva: Men's Adventure Supermodel ( By: Robert Deis, Wyatt Doyle)

2019

Mort Kunstler (Short Story) ( By: Robert Deis, Wyatt Doyle)

2019

One Man Army (Short Story) ( By: Robert Deis, Wyatt Doyle, Gil Cohen)

2020

Exotic Adventures of Robert Silverberg (Short Story) ( By: Robert Silverberg, Robert Deis, Wyatt Doyle)

2021

Maneaters ( By: Mort Künstler, Robert Deis, Wyatt Doyle)

2021

George Gross: Covered (Short Story) ( By: Robert Deis, Wyatt Doyle)

2022

The Naked and the Deadly

2023

Atomic Werewolves and Man-Eating Plants ( By: Robert Deis, Wyatt Doyle)

2023

Akashic Noir Series

San Francisco Noir

2002

Seattle Noir

2003

Bronx Noir

2003

Brooklyn Noir

2004

Brooklyn Noir 2

2005

Chicago Noir

2005

Manhattan Noir

2006

Miami Noir: The Classics

2006

D.C. Noir

2006

Baltimore Noir

2006

London Noir

2006

New Orleans Noir

2007

Los Angeles Noir

2007

Wall Street Noir

2007

Havana Noir

2007

Detroit Noir

2007

Brooklyn Noir 3: Nothing But the Truth

2008

Toronto Noir

2008

Las Vegas Noir

2008

Manhattan Noir 2

2008

Paris Noir

2008

Istanbul Noir

2008

Boston Noir

2009

Rome Noir

2009

San Francisco Noir 2

2009

Portland Noir

2009

Delhi Noir

2009

Phoenix Noir

2009

Los Angeles Noir 2

2010

Mexico City Noir

2010

Richmond Noir

2010

Orange County Noir

2010

Indian Country Noir

2010

Moscow Noir

2010

Lone Star Noir

2010

Philadelphia Noir

2010

Haiti Noir

2010

Copenhagen Noir

2010

Pittsburgh Noir

2011

San Diego Noir

2011

Pittsburgh Noir

2011

Barcelona Noir

2011

Cape Cod Noir

2011

Staten Island Noir

2012

Mumbai Noir

2012

Long Island Noir

2012

Venice Noir

2012

Kingston Noir

2012

St. Petersburg Noir

2012

Kansas City Noir

2012

Boston Noir 2

2012

Manila Noir

2013

Buffalo Noir

2013

Twin Cities Noir

2013

Dallas Noir

2013

Haiti Noir 2

2013

Singapore Noir

2014

Prison Noir

2014

Tel Aviv Noir

2014

Tehran Noir

2014

Belfast Noir

2014

Helsinki Noir

2014

Providence Noir

2015

Chicago Noir: The Classics

2015

Memphis Noir

2015

Zagreb Noir

2015

Marseille Noir

2015

Beirut Noir

2015

Stockholm Noir

2016

Brussels Noir

2016

Mississippi Noir

2016

St. Louis Noir

2016

Prague Noir

2016

San Juan Noir

2016

Oakland Noir

2017

Trinidad Noir

2017

Atlanta Noir

2017

New Haven Noir

2017

Montana Noir

2017

Buenos Aires Noir

2017

Montreal Noir

2017

Berlin Noir

2018

São Paulo Noir

2018

Santa Cruz Noir

2018

Lagos Noir

2018

Marrakech Noir

2018

Baghdad Noir

2018

Vancouver Noir

2018

Sydney Noir

2018

Hong Kong Noir

2018

Amsterdam Noir

2019

Houston Noir

2019

Columbus Noir

2020

Santa Fe Noir

2020

Alabama Noir

2020

Addis Ababa Noir

2020

Tampa Bay Noir

2020

Belgrade Noir

2020

Lawrence Block Anthologies

Alfred Hitchcock's A Choice of Evils

1983

The Eyes Have It

1984

Chapter and Hearse

1985

The Second Black Lizard Anthology of Crime Fiction

1988

The Perfect Murder

1991

The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1991

1992

Monsters in Our Midst

1993

The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1992

1993

Dark Crimes 2

1993

The New Mystery

1993

The Fine Art of Murder: The Mystery Reader's Indispensable Companion

1993

The King is Dead: Tales of Elvis Postmortem

1994

The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1993

1994

Bad Behavior

1995

The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1996

1995

Night Screams

1996

First Cases, Volume 1

1996

Win, Lose or Die

1996

Law and Order

1997

The Plot Thickens

1997

First Cases, Volume 2

1997

Crimes of Passion

1997

Mystery's Most Wanted

1997

Hot Blood X

1998

The Best of the Best

1998

Murder on the Run

1998

The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1997

1998

The Best American Mystery Stories 1998

1998

Death Cruise: Crime Stories on the Open Seas

1999

The Best American Mystery Stories 1999

1999

Master's Choice: Mystery Stories by Today's Top Writers and the Masters Who Inspired Them

2000

The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century

2000

The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 1

2000

Opening Shots: Great Mystery and Crime Writers Share Their First Published Stories

2000

The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 2

2000

The Best American Mystery Stories 2001

2001

Opening Shots, Vol. II

2001

Pulp Masters

2001

The Mighty Johns

2002

Murder Most Merry

2002

Most Wanted

2002

The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 3

2002

Blood on Their Hands

2003

Bronx Noir

2003

The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 4

2003

High Stakes

2003

In the Shadow of the Master

2003

Greatest Hits

2005

Transgressions

2005

Brooklyn Noir 2

2005

These Guns for Hire

2006

Transgressions, Vol. 2

2006

The Best American Mystery Stories 2007

2007

A Prisoner of Memory and 24 of the Year's Finest Crime and Mystery Stories

2008

L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories

2010

The Sounds Of Crime

2010

The Dark End of the Street

2010

Indian Country Noir

2010

Masters of Noir, Volume One

2010

The Shamus Winners

2010

Masters of Noir, Volume Three

2010

The Best American Mystery Stories 2011

2011

Warriors 3

2011

In Pursuit of Spenser

2012

Psychos

2012

USA Noir

2013

Weasels Ripped My Flesh!: Two-Fisted Stories From Men's Adventure Magazines of the 1950s, '60s & '70s

2013

Inherit the Dead

2013

Dangerous Women

2013

Buffalo Noir

2013

Have a NYC 3: New York Short Stories

2014

Dark City Lights: New York Stories (Have a NYC)

2015

Mostly Murder

2016

In Sunlight or In Shadow

2016

Gym Rat & Murder Club

2016

Alive in Shape and Color

2017

Florida Happens

2018

At Home in the Dark

2019

The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe

2020

The Darkling Halls of Ivy

2020

Collectibles

2021

Jewish Noir II: Tales of Crime and Other Dark Deeds

2021

Playing Games

2023

The Dark Waves of Winter

2023

The Amber Waves of Autumn

2024

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