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| Plot Summary of Out on the Cutting Edge |
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"Unofficial private detective Matthew Scudder is hired to find a young woman who disappeared after coming to New York to pursue an acting career. Her parents have left messages on her answering machine that were not returned. Her father has come to New York and found she moved out of her furnished room. Oddly, she left her linens on the bed and her answering machine.
Scudder discovers that Paula Hoeldtke didn't have her phone shut off until nearly a week after she had moved out of her room. She was well liked at work, and the producers of the few plays she was able to find parts in thought well of her. But there's little to explain why she disappeared.
In a subplot, Scudder befriends Eddie Dunphy, a former small-time hoodlum he meets in an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Dunphy fears the fifth step in the AA program, a confession of the wrongs he has committed.
But Eddie turns up dead, apparently the victim of a form of asphyxiation while masturbating that often goes wrong. He appears to have partially hanged himself but lost control and passed out. Scudder tries to find out what it was that Eddie wanted to tell him. He seeks out Eddie's criminal boss, the butcher Mick Ballou. After spending a long evening talking to Ballou, the butcher asks how he can get in touch with Scudder. Matt offers him one of the cards he carries with Paula's picture on one side and his name and telephone number on the other. Surprisingly, Ballou shows an interest in the picture, then tries to cover it up. Scudder realizes that there's a connection between Paula's disappearance and Eddie's death, which he concludes was not an accident or suicide.
That connection, plus his gradually increasing suspicion of Eddie's landlady, with whom Scudder has begun an affair, pulls the seemingly unconnected strands together in a way that solves both murders.
"
David Gordon, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Out on the Cutting Edge |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain?
- Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story:
- 1980's-1999
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 40%
Special suspect?
- lover
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- Big focus on autopsies
Kind of investigator
- hard boiled/private eye
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- feelings towards lover
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story?
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- private investigator
Age:
- 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use?
- a little
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- killer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
Motive of antagonist
- kicks
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Dumb
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 3-4
Sex
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
- descript. of male nudity
Unusual forms of death
- asphyxiation
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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