Coward’s Kiss is another of Lawrence Block’s early 1960’s Crime Novels, where everyone is neither black, nor white, but different shades of gray.
Private Detective Ed London is summoned by his creepy brother-in-law Dr. Jack Enright to an apartment on East 51 Street. Jack is not there, but the body of a dead girl is. Jack told Ed he was having an affair with the girl, but he swore to Ed he didn’t kill her. Even though Jack admitted he was cheating on Ed’s sister Kaye, Ed tries to help Jack stay out of jail by moving the body out of the apartment, which was where Jack was keeping the chick for their trysts, and dumping it in Central Park. Not a good move, Ed. Soon people are looking to kill Ed, while his slimy brother-in-law basically crawls into a simpering little ball of mush.
Coward’s Kiss is one of Block’s earliest works, but all Block fan’s will love his famed roller- coaster style, where no one is whom they seem to be, and surprise ending are always in store for the reader.
Coward’s Kiss is a one-night read. But I guarantee you you’ll get bang for your buck, if you buy this book.
If you haven’t read any of Lawrence Block’s novels yet, you’ll get great pleasure in reading his later works. Highly recommended are his fifteen, or so Matthew Scudder crime novels. And also his Bernie Rhoddenbarr/Burglar novels, which are written in Block’s inimitable comedy style. He also has several Keller “Hit Man” novels that follow the exploits of Keller, who is a killer for hire.