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A review by ncrabb
When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block
3.0
I enjoyed this book as I have all of the Scudder series, but this one was particularly fascinating to me. It happened around the time of the New York City bankruptcy—a few years before technically. It was a time when bars in the city had Irish Republican Army influences running through them. It’s actually more of a flashback novel set in 1975 New York.
As the book opens, a nightclub is being held up by two men. Scudder is one of the patrons enjoying yet another drink. No one is hurt, and Scudder is somewhat surprised by the ease at which the holdup went down. Then bad things start happening to others with whom Scudder was drinking at the club. Its owners are IRA gunmen who want to find out who held up the place but who don’t want to involve the cops. Not convinced he has a chance of figuring out the mystery, Scudder dives in anyway. It all becomes rather personal when his friend’s wife is among those later killed by the same men.
As the book opens, a nightclub is being held up by two men. Scudder is one of the patrons enjoying yet another drink. No one is hurt, and Scudder is somewhat surprised by the ease at which the holdup went down. Then bad things start happening to others with whom Scudder was drinking at the club. Its owners are IRA gunmen who want to find out who held up the place but who don’t want to involve the cops. Not convinced he has a chance of figuring out the mystery, Scudder dives in anyway. It all becomes rather personal when his friend’s wife is among those later killed by the same men.