In the Midst of Death

Now he'saccused of murdering a call girl. The stylish Englishwoman was bludgeoned and stabbed in Broadfield's rented Barrow Street flat while the rogue cop was chasing a fake tip through Brooklyn.

Inside the Tombs, Broadfield swears the whole homicide was staged to silence him. The plainclothesman found precious little sympathy behind bars after throwing his shield in a drawer to expose the department.

Nursing bourbon in his morning coffee, Scudder holds no illusions about how far dirty cops will go to protect a precinct pad. Matthew Scudder doesn't think Broadfield's a killer, but the cops aren't about to help the unlicensed p.i. prove it -- and they may do a lot worse than just get in his way.

• Hardboiled Mystery: Haunted by an off-duty shooting that took an innocent child's life in Washington Heights, Scudder operates without a badge or office. He takes cases as personal favors, tithing his cash in quiet Catholic chapels while battling an escalating dependence on bourbon.
• Crime Noir: Behind the murdered call girl lies a lethal paper trail reaching from Special Prosecutor Abner Prejanian's inquiry to City Hall officials with dangerous secrets. Anyone who threatens to expose the names on her client roster quickly becomes the next target.
• Morally Grey Hero: Broadfield insists he turned state's evidence out of civic duty, but his real scheme is to turn police scandal into a bestselling tell-all book. Sifting through his lies pulls Scudder into a deadly feud between rival prosecutors and crooked officers.
• Also by This Author: The Sins Of The Fathers, Hit Man and Burglars Can't Be Choosers.