The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams
US publication: 1994
Author: Lawrence Block
Detective: Bernie Rhodenbarr
Genre: Novel
Plot
summary and comments:
Bernie Rhodenbarr is actually trying to earn an honest living. It's been an entire year since he's entered anyone's abode illegally to help himself to their valuables. But now an unscrupulous landlord's threat to increase Bernie's rent by 1,000% is driving the bookseller and reformed burglar back to a life of crime -- though, in all fairness, it's a very short trip. And when the cops wrongly accuse him of stealing a priceless collection of baseball cards, Bernie's stuck with a worthless alibi since he was busy burgling a different apartment at the time . . . one that happened to contain a dead body locked inside a bathroom.
So Bernie has a dilemma. He can trade a burglary charge for a murder rap. Or he can shuffle all the cards himself and try to find the joker in the deck -- someone, perhaps, who believes that homicide is the real Great American Pastime.
::READERS REVIEWS::
Extremely Involved Plot - While Lawrence Block has never shrunk from complexity, this story takes the cake.
Lawrence wants to be able to solve a "murder in a room locked from the inside" mystery and does so here. But there's more than just the mechanics in play. In this story, he also creates extraordinarily complex relationships and interrelationships for us, and uses Bernie to unravel each of these many complexities with some really tortured machinations.
Don't you just love it? I did...
Fast, fun, and breezy - You'd think Bernie Rhodenbarr would know better than to stop for mysterious, attractive young ladies who ask him to perform random burglaries, but that may just be his cross to bear. The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams is deeply enjoyable and endlessly amusing, a hugely pleasant read. Highly recommended.
Everyone knows everyone - Block ranks right up there with other writers who just know how to write (others include Ed McBain and Donald Westlake) . Dialogue and the ability to keep us needing to turn the page are the hallmarks of all of Block's works. Block sets up impossible to figure situations and manages to sort it all out. Be prepared for everything that happens to be somehow interconnected, I don't know how he does it. As Block puts it, "Coincidences are God's way of letting us know He is up there." Warning: try to read in no more than three sittings, you'll never keep it all straight.
The mystery is as addictive as Bernie's burgling - Not since Bilbo Baggins has a burglar been this engaging...how do you help the police solve a murder when you were at the scene of the crime committing larceny? And then you tried to trade the frozen Ted Williams. Just kidding. Remember when baseball cards came with bubblegum and mustard? Ah, the joys of Americana. Ah, the fun of a Lawrence Block mystery. A burglar with a bookstore? Hey since authors feel books rob them blind sometimes...speaking of authors, there's an interesting bit going through with Bernie Rhodenbarr's lesbian dog-groomer pal/sleuth Carolyn who thinks that Kinsey Millhone (Su Grafton's brainchild) is a lesbian. And there's a classy hint of lesbian romance in the air with the wife of one of the characters Bernie tangles with. Carolyn remarks, "I figure he'll be an easy act to follow." Block, however, isn't.
My favorite of the serise - Take a sarcastic on agian off agian burgler and add one lesoban dog gromer. For good measure also add a halfway honest cop and a cat named Raffels. What you get is a really fun serise of mystery books that will always hold a special place in your heart.
in this particular edition of the serise berny Rosenbar is doing all he can to resist the temtation of breaking and entering. When a new landlord rasies the price of the rent he really doesn't have a chocie, he wants to remian honest but he also wants to keep his store.
What you end up getting in the end is a great book with hilarious charecters. I recommend to all.
::AMAZON REVIEWS::
Extremely Involved PlotWhile Lawrence Block has never shrunk from complexity, this story takes the cake.
Lawrence wants to be able to solve a "murder in a room locked from the inside" mystery and does so here. But there's more than just the mechanics in play. In this story, he also creates extraordinarily complex relationships and interrelationships for us, and uses Bernie to unravel each of these many complexities with some really tortured machinations.
Don't you just love it? I did...
Fast, fun, and breezyYou'd think Bernie Rhodenbarr would know better than to stop for mysterious, attractive young ladies who ask him to perform random burglaries, but that may just be his cross to bear. The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams is deeply enjoyable and endlessly amusing, a hugely pleasant read. Highly recommended.
Everyone knows everyoneBlock ranks right up there with other writers who just know how to write (others include Ed McBain and Donald Westlake) . Dialogue and the ability to keep us needing to turn the page are the hallmarks of all of Block's works. Block sets up impossible to figure situations and manages to sort it all out. Be prepared for everything that happens to be somehow interconnected, I don't know how he does it. As Block puts it, "Coincidences are God's way of letting us know He is up there." Warning: try to read in no more than three sittings, you'll never keep it all straight.
The mystery is as addictive as Bernie's burglingNot since Bilbo Baggins has a burglar been this engaging...how do you help the police solve a murder when you were at the scene of the crime committing larceny? And then you tried to trade the frozen Ted Williams. Just kidding. Remember when baseball cards came with bubblegum and mustard? Ah, the joys of Americana. Ah, the fun of a Lawrence Block mystery. A burglar with a bookstore? Hey since authors feel books rob them blind sometimes...speaking of authors, there's an interesting bit going through with Bernie Rhodenbarr's lesbian dog-groomer pal/sleuth Carolyn who thinks that Kinsey Millhone (Su Grafton's brainchild) is a lesbian. And there's a classy hint of lesbian romance in the air with the wife of one of the characters Bernie tangles with. Carolyn remarks, "I figure he'll be an easy act to follow." Block, however, isn't.
My favorite of the seriseTake a sarcastic on agian off agian burgler and add one lesoban dog gromer. For good measure also add a halfway honest cop and a cat named Raffels. What you get is a really fun serise of mystery books that will always hold a special place in your heart.
in this particular edition of the serise berny Rosenbar is doing all he can to resist the temtation of breaking and entering. When a new landlord rasies the price of the rent he really doesn't have a chocie, he wants to remian honest but he also wants to keep his store.
What you end up getting in the end is a great book with hilarious charecters. I recommend to all.