Lawrence Block is one of my favorite mystery authors. His Matthew Scudder books always are best sellers. He also writes about a burglar named Bernie Rhodenbarr. The latest Bernie Rhodenbarr book is called The Burglar In The Rye. It was published by Dutton, a Penguin imprint. The book was copyrighted in 1999.
The book opens with Bernie standing in the lobby of the Paddington Hotel. He registers at the hotel and gets a stuffed Paddington Bear. It seems that although it had been around a lot longer than the fictional bear, the hotel seemed to align itself with Paddington Bear. What's Bernie there for? Is he having a meeting, or perhaps a liaison with a married woman? Oh, no. Bernie is at the Paddington to steal something.
Bernie checks into his room and a little later goes and burgles the intended room. Only instead of finding treasures, Bernie finds a dead body. Right after his discovery the police come to the door of the hotel room. Bernie makes his escape to a room on a lower floor. He stops there and burgles some jewelry from that room before making his escape. Only he doesn't get very far.
A woman had run into Bernie right before he entered the dead woman's room. This witness now points out Bernie to the police. The main cop is an old Bernie nemesis, Ray Kirschmann. He knows that Bernie probably hasn't killed the woman but instead just burgled the room. He wants the goods that Bernie got.
The plot centers on a set of letters. These documents were correspondence from writer Gulliver Fairborn to his agent, Anthea Landau. Fairborn was world famous for his book Nobody's Baby, a life changer in the vein of Catcher In The Rye. As a matter of fact, Fairborn was known for drinking a lot of Rye whiskey. It seems that the agent, Landau, was now going to auction off the letters. Fairborn did not want that to happen. So through his one time love, Alice Cantrell, Fairborn asks Bernie to steal them.
As with other Bernie Rhodenbarr books, this one has twists and turns around every bend. Small pieces of subplots get sprinkled here and there throughout the story. There is a seedy desk clerk that rats on Bernie. And Bernie's best friend Carolyn has just entered into another gay relationship. This new woman, Erica, is trying to make changes in Carolyn. And of course Ray wants a piece of whatever Bernie is into.
A young woman turns up dead in Bernie's apartment and once again he's a suspect in a murder.
Does Bernie clear his name and gets the letters for Fairborn? He wouldn't be the best burglar in New York if he didn't.
The Burglar In The Rye is a funny, thoroughly entertaining mystery.