The first Matt Scudder mystery In the Midst of Death (1976) introduces the theme of corruption, and specifically police corruption, with the claim that the whole city is for sale and with the character of Jerry Broadhurst, a cop who always had an angle and who never lived on his police salary, who is now blowing the whistle on his fellow cops, informing to a special prosecutor about police corruption. The situation precipitates an examination of the limits of loyalty and virtue with the axiom "a man's got to make a living" expressing some kind of ethical limit to pragmatism and self-interest.

Scudder's hopes for a new life and a new love, after being raised, are dashed, and the novel declares that people do not get the opportunity to change their destinies.

Sins of the Fathers (1977) sets up a parallel family situation as the relationship between Wendy...