jjares reviewed on 1/16/2021 + 3413 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Bernie Rhodenbarr is a burglar with a droll sense of humor. He's what used to be called "a gentleman thief." Bernie owns a Greenwich Village bookshop and sidelines as a burglar. He's not above using his sticky fingers to assist a friend. As a favor to a confederate, Bernie agrees to finger the cash in a smarmy plastic surgeon's wall safe. Bernie is a cautious man and decides to case the joint before actually robbing it. While out, he decides to burgle a random apartment. Unfortunately, unfortunate things ultimately occur.

Bernie is caught via technology; his image is caught on an ATM security camera and he's arrested for a crime he didn't commit. Talk about irony. While he's working his way through the legal system, Bernie's apartment is robbed (the irony is running rampant in this tale). Raffles (the cat), Carolyn (a neighbor and dog groomer), and Ray (a not-totally-on-the-up-and-up policeman who enjoys arresting Bernie) are regulars and all in attendance in this story.

At the end, Bernie pulls a Hercule Poirot, meaning that he gathers everyone together and unravels the plot of coincidences. I thought it was a tour-de-force by the author, but us mere mortals didn't have a prayer to figure it out beforehand. The plot is full of the unlikely, improbable, and nearly impossible.

Bernie Rhodenbarr Series
-- skipped some in this series --
9.The Burglar in the Rye (1999)
** 10.The Burglar on the Prowl (2004)
11.The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons (2013)

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