All the Flowers are Dying

By Lawrence Block
Read by Lawrence Block

     Matthew Scudder is trying to cut down on his workload and retire. As a private investigator, Scudder has had a lot of adventures that have left him wanting a peaceful life with his wife, Elaine, and her antique shop. As he goes about his way-meeting friends from the force, going to AA meetings-Preston Applewhite, a man from Virginia who is days away from being put to death for the murder of three boys, keeps finding a way into every conversation. Not thinking much of it, Scudder continues his routine and ends up agreeing to investigate an online boyfriend named David Thompson for an acquaintance, Louisa. How could he have known that accepting a job that looks this simple could end up being the closest he and the people around him will ever get to being in the direct path of a heartless killer.

     Preston Applewhite insists that he is innocent, but with evidence as concrete as the DA has, there is no use in fighting the inevitable anymore. With this decision, he agrees to talk to a psychologist who says he believes Applewhite, just so he can get in to observe him as part of an ongoing project he is working on about the minds of death-row inmates. As Applewhite is led to the table where he will breathe his last breath, even darker tragedies are happening that will make the lives of the families and everyone in the country who want to see him dead wonder just how concrete anything can be.

     Block has done it again! I've been able to listen to other audio books of his, but I have to say that this was the most interestingly twisted tale I have ever had the pleasure of being stumped by. There's a surprise at every turn and no way of being able to detach your mind from the bizarrely realistic world that is Block's masterful creation. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in seeing from different sides of the mystery and can handle the rollercoaster ride of murder and confusion that is All the Flowers are Dying.