A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Irene Tursten's short stories in An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed. Col at Col's Criminal Library commented that they reminded him of the Martin Ehrengraf stories by Lawrence Block. I found that a good number of those stories were in a Lawrence Block anthology that I own, Enough Rope. So I read a few of them.
"The Ehrengraf Defense"
Martin Ehrengraf is a defense lawyer but he doesn't spend much time in court. He usually aims at getting his clients declared innocent before the cases reach court. Most of these stories came out in magazines, so each story explains the premise behind Martin Ehrengraf's defense methods. He operates on a contingency basis; he will not get paid if his client is found guilty. And the client will pay his very high fee whether or not it can be proven that Ehrengraf had any part in him/her being set free. His assumption is always that his client is innocent.
In this story, the client's mother hires Ehrengraf, and the story is interesting, but sort of off-putting.
"The Ehrengraf Presumption"
Martin Ehrengraf takes on two cases for the same murder (not at the same time). I liked this one much better.
"The Ehrengraf Experience"
Martin Ehrengraf will use any means necessary to achieve his clients release, and sometimes the results are very chilling.
This one was interesting because stamp collecting comes into the story. Lawrence Block is a serious stamp collector. I know of at least one other character of his that is a stamp collector, Keller, a hit man.
"The Ehrengraf Appointment"
In this case, Ehrengraf takes an appointment from the IDC (Indigent Defense Commission), so he will get a very small fee instead of the usual extravagant fee he usually demands. However, he still plans to work by the same rules. A fellow lawyer makes a wager with him on the outcome of the case, which could potentially add to his monetary intake.
Ehrengraf often quotes poetry in these stories. This time it was "An Epitaph" by Andrew Marvell.
These stories will not necessarily appeal to all those who read short stories, but Lawrence Block can really write, so they are worth a try. I found the four I read a bit too much the same for me, and they would probably be better when read separately. When they were published they came out in different issues of magazines, primarily Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, so they would not normally be read back to back. On the other hand, they were sort of like potato chips; it was hard to read just one. I kept wanting to check out the next story.
There are ten Martin Ehrengraf stories in this book and I was only able to find publication dates for nine of them; they were published from 1978 through 1997.
Some other resources for the Martin Ehrengraf short stories:
- Col's review of Defender of the Innocent, a collection which includes all 12 short stories. The review is of an audio version; the copyright dates of all the stories are listed.
- A review of Enough Rope, the anthology which was the source of the stories I read. The review was by Kevin Burton Smith, and is at January Magazine.
- A review of the 12th story, "The Ehrengraf Fandango," at Kevin Tipple's blog Kevin's Corner.
18 comments:
I tried one Block's 'Burglar' series and couldn't get into it. But I've read one short story... had to go on a search to see what it was... it was in an anthology by Neil Gaiman called 'Stories' and was called Catch and Release and I remember that I thought it the best story in the book, superbly written. So perhaps I need to search out a book of his short stories and then move on to the novels.
I like some of his novels very much and you are right he is a very good writer. When The Sacred Ginmill Closes is my favorite.
He is a good writer! And his Matthew Scudder Series is my favorite. I am currently on book seven in the series, Out On a Limb I think is the title. It's really good and though it's best to read a mystery series from the beginning I think starting with Out On A Limb would be a good idea. You don't need to read the prior books first and you get a good sense from this book of who Matthew Scudder is and its very well done.
You are absolutely right, Tracy. Block can write! He's done so much in so many varied sub-genres that it's amazing to me. And he has written some great short stories. I'll admit I've not (yet) read this collection, but with Block writing, you can't go far wrong.
I read these Martin Ehrengraf stories a few years ago. Very different and very cleverly done! As Margot said, you can't go wrong with Lawrence Block's work.
Indeed...he's an old favorite among my reading, though this series is not central to his work (I'm not the biggest fan of the Keller stories, either, for that matter). But in work such as his novel SMALL TOWN or the Scudder series, I think you'll tend to see him doing among his best work.
I've been letting a Lot of things get in the way of reading his most recent memoir. He's also a more than fine editor of anthologies, btw.
Read, reviewed, and enjoyed this book and a number of others by him.
Whenever Lawrence Block is mentioned, the praise rains down. I have tried, novels, short stories, non-fiction, and just don't like his work. I'm sure it's me (that's what I'm told) but...no, thank you.
Cath, Block has written so much and I have only sampled his writing here and there. His best known series is the Matt Scudder series and I have only read one of those. I want to continue on through the series. I also have read only one of the Burglar novels. I liked the writing, but did have some problems with the character. Still want to try more of those, though. In later books he has a book store and is supposedly retired from his life of crime. I haven't decided if I need to read those in order or not. He has been writing for a long time, I suspect there is a lot of variety in his subject matter.
Patti, I want to read more of the Matt Scudder series and I have some of the books on my shelves.
Cathy, another vote for Matt Scudder. I have a good number of the books but they are in different spots. Next I may just read the one I can get to the easiest, as long as it isn't a very late book in the series.
Margot, I have had this short story collection for a long time, and this may be the first time I sampled any stories from it. There are some early stories, some new stories (at the time it was published, 2002). And some stories for several of his series characters. A nice collection.
George, that is what I like especially about these Martin Ehrengraf stories, the different approach. They often show people at their worst. And mostly he deals only with the well to do, those who can afford his fees.
Todd, I liked the first book of Keller stories, and did not like the second book. I am sure if I tried the third book, I would find things to like. But getting moving on the Matt Scudder series is what I need to do.
I have at least four of the anthologies that Block has put together, two from the Akashic Noir series and two of his art-related anthologies. Have sampled stories in three of them. More anthologies I need to finish.
Kevin, I added a link to your review of The Ehrengraf Fandango to this post, and purchased a copy of the Kindle version, since it is not in Enough Rope. If you have more related reviews that I did not find, let me know and I will add them.
Rick, we all have different tastes. I have had varied experiences with his novels, and the connected short stories like the Keller series, but I almost always like his non-fiction. I have not read any of his very early books, although I do have copies of a few of them.
Tracy, thanks for the mention. Glad you enjoyed the stories for the most part. I do think he's probably one of my favourite authors.
Col, I liked the stories, I just read too many at one time. I will read them one or two at time in the future. Thanks for pointing me towards them. I took too long to try the stories in that book.
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