ISBN: 0-525-94301-3 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com
This latest novel in the humorous "Burglar" series is a very fine addition to the bunch.
Reviewed by David on June 13, 1998
Genre: Mystery (Stately Home Murder, Humor, Amateur Sleuth)
Synopsis: Bernie Rhodenbarr, a part-time cat burglar and full-time rare book dealer ventures into a quaint English-style bed-and-breakfast countryside retreat hoping for some R&R and a rare and valuable book. His enjoyment is spoiled by the murder of one of the guests. When the guests and staff are snowed in, the plot becomes self-consciously a Stately Home Murder(tm) and Bernie reluctantly undertakes to find the killer as the corpses multiply.
Full Review: Block has written a number of novels about the adventures of Bernie Rhodenbarr. Usually, Bernie is interrupted in his mildly nefarious attempts to earn a living through burglary by various homicides in his path. There was a long gap in books before this one, but The Burglar in the Library is worth the wait.
In self-defense, Bernie usually has to solve the mystery to avoid becoming either a victim or a suspect.
Despite being an exceptionally good burglar, Bernie's bad luck in both love and murder continues. After being dumped by his latest girlfriend, Bernie organizes a vacation into a very English (and pricey) bed-and-breakfast. While there is no butler, everything else is almost entirely too authentic. The food, the obligatory retired English colonel pining for the days of the Empire (who should be dead by now). Even the guests' children speak with a fake English accent.
Fortunately for Bernie, the food is good, the drink is better, and the rare book in hopes of snatching which he came to this remote retreat is in the house. Unfortunately, the company he meets is not entirely congenial, and it is not long when a first murder shows up.
Tongue firmly in cheek, Bernie tries to detect, while ruing the obvious Agatha Christie plot. As he stumbles over his cat, the daughter of one of the guests whose precocity is rivaled only by her curiosity, and more dead bodies, Bernie has to use his burglar skills to finally solve the mystery.
The book is full of unforced self-conscious humor. The characters are intentionally improbable and the coincidences are piled on top of each other. The humor is not of the laugh-out-loud type, but I was smiling most of the time while reading it. Block's novel is full of red herrings, distracting dialogue and gentle reverence for old books and classic mysteries.
Overall: 6.5; Plot: 6; Characters: 7; Style: 6.5; World-building: 5; Originality: 4;
Penguin Group, July 1997, Cloth, 608 pages
ISBN: 0-525-94301-3 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com