Matthew Scudder. Ex-cop. Private detective. Alcoholic.

The Autobiography of Matthew Scudder is told in the man’s own words. The story takes the reader back to the very beginning, long before the books began, and gives a glimpse of Scudder’s childhood, his family tragedies, and his upbringing; it provides a perspective on how he first got drawn to police work and how, eventually, he left it. The aging Scudder reflects on his life from the vantage point of a man drawing ever nearer to the end.