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Lawrence Block's talent for creating colorful characters, sophisticated dialog, and engaging atmosphere has earned him many awards: the title of Grand Master, three Edgar Awards, four Shamus Awards, and a Nero Wolfe Award. One of his most popular series follows the adventures of the suave bookseller and crook, Bernie Rhodenbarr. Bernie's sweetheart has dumped him. But although his heart is broken, he hasn't lost his love for fine books-or for an occasional discrete burglary. So Bernie takes show more off for a snowy winter weekend at a country inn that just happens to have a rare, signed first edition of The Big Sleep in its library. It's not long, however, before Bernie's ex-girlfriend arrives with her new husband, a body is found in the library, and the book disappears. Bernie must sort out a tricky tangle of clues if he has any hope of nabbing the priceless edition for himself. Narrator Richard Ferrone captures Bernie's cool demeanor and his flair for perfect timing. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This is one of the best in Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr series.
The Burglar in the Library is one part Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (a.k.a. The Ten Little Indians), one part Christie's The Body in the Library and one part Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man, with Bernie and Carolyn Kaiser pairing up as a platonic Nick and Nora Charles. All of the Rhodenbarr books are pretty funny, but this one is also a loving take on the English house murders that Dame Agatha Christie made famous.
Usually, these near-parodies aren't as kind to their inspiration. But The Burglar in the Library makes you want to rush out and re-read a Miss Marple mystery.
This book is such a departure from the Rhodenbarr books, which are as brash and hip as show more their New York City setting. I wonder how many years Block has yearned to produce his own genteel English mystery? I'm glad he decided to scratch that particular itch.
It's an excellent book. The true test of a mystery is if you enjoy it when you re-read, when you already know "who done it." This book passes the test with flying colors: I've read it twice, and I'm sure I'll be reading it again.
As with all the Rhodenbarr books, Block fills it with tons of book and other trivia. I'd never read any Hammett or Chandler (who figure prominently in this book), but Block prompted me to correct that, too. show less
The Burglar in the Library is one part Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (a.k.a. The Ten Little Indians), one part Christie's The Body in the Library and one part Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man, with Bernie and Carolyn Kaiser pairing up as a platonic Nick and Nora Charles. All of the Rhodenbarr books are pretty funny, but this one is also a loving take on the English house murders that Dame Agatha Christie made famous.
Usually, these near-parodies aren't as kind to their inspiration. But The Burglar in the Library makes you want to rush out and re-read a Miss Marple mystery.
This book is such a departure from the Rhodenbarr books, which are as brash and hip as show more their New York City setting. I wonder how many years Block has yearned to produce his own genteel English mystery? I'm glad he decided to scratch that particular itch.
It's an excellent book. The true test of a mystery is if you enjoy it when you re-read, when you already know "who done it." This book passes the test with flying colors: I've read it twice, and I'm sure I'll be reading it again.
As with all the Rhodenbarr books, Block fills it with tons of book and other trivia. I'd never read any Hammett or Chandler (who figure prominently in this book), but Block prompted me to correct that, too. show less
Of the three Bernie the Burglar books I've read, this is the daftest - and best! And best because daftest. Block's deliberate send-up of the country house mystery genre is silly, funny and unsurprisingly involves corpses piling up in a place Bernie is trying to steal from...
It sounds like an English country manor mystery, complete with an English-style inn, snowbound guests for the weekend and bodies all over the place. The first one appears in the library, done in by a camel and a pillow. And they continue to pile up. But as Bernie Rhodenbarr (burglar, bookseller and sleuth) says, “…this isn’t a cozy little English murder case at all, it’s tough and hardboiled and it’s not going to be solved by pussyfooting around like Miss Jane Marple or Lord Peter Wimsey. This is Philip Marlowe’s kind of caper.” I quite enjoyed the romp.
What better way to recover from a break-up than a sojourn to the countryside for a weekend of English coziness? Combined with a small amount of larceny, of course. And if Bernie's accompanied by Raffles the cat and Carolyn rather than the curvy blond Lettice? Well, it will still be a weekend to remember...
There's murder done, of course. And absent a butler, the villain must be one of the houseguests, but which? Block takes on the English cozy, mixes in a dash of the mean streets, and of course, doesn't spare the scotch.
There's murder done, of course. And absent a butler, the villain must be one of the houseguests, but which? Block takes on the English cozy, mixes in a dash of the mean streets, and of course, doesn't spare the scotch.
It must be that time of year where I read a ton of formulaic fiction to clear my mind. Bernie Rhodenbarr is back, with another disastrous love affair, another lost piece of pop-culture ephemera (A first edition Raymond Chandler autographed to Dashiell Hammett), and a corpse. The setting is a snowbound B&B masquerading as an English country estate, and with the bodies piling up, Bernie needs to find out the real killer and abscond with his priceless first edition. There's some cleverness as Block contrast the tropes of the 'English drawing room murder mystery' with the 'American hard-boiled noir' story, which a mystery fan will obvious enjoy, but this book might be a little bit too twee and hit a little too close to the obvious plot show more points to be a proper deconstruction. Not bad, per se, and if you're on a beach and this book is nearby why not, but nothing you need to seek out either. show less
"Those shelves are chock-full of books, and I don't think the Eglantines trucked them in by the pound to make a decorating statement, I think they've been there forever."
"And somewhere, tucked away on some high shelf--"
"The Big Sleep," I said. "Signed by Raymond Chandler, and inscribed to Dashiell Hammett. Sitting there, just waiting to be found."
Bernie Rhodenbarr, bookseller and gentleman thief, can't stop thinking about one particular association copy of The Big Sleep. At auction it would be worth thousands but it's currently lost in the enormous library of a New England manor house turned inn. Bernie's weekend hunt starts off promising until the place becomes snow-bound, the phone lines go out and bodies start appearing with show more regularity. Will the murders be just the distraction Bernie needs to cover his own crimes or will his nightly prowls make him the main suspect?
I found Block's The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart to be a real treat and I looked towards The Burglar in the Library to be more of the same. I was particularly interested in the Christie-esque setup and how that would mix with the Chandler/Hammett angle. I haven't read much of Christie but thought such a mixture might inspire me to read her more. The truth be known.... I didn't like it. At all. The best friend, Carolyn, grated on my nerves with each new page. "What do you think, Bern? What does it mean, Bern? Is that important, Bern?" It seemed her only reason for existing was exposition. It was so obvious and I resented it mightly. I think I'm pretty much done with this series... show less
"And somewhere, tucked away on some high shelf--"
"The Big Sleep," I said. "Signed by Raymond Chandler, and inscribed to Dashiell Hammett. Sitting there, just waiting to be found."
Bernie Rhodenbarr, bookseller and gentleman thief, can't stop thinking about one particular association copy of The Big Sleep. At auction it would be worth thousands but it's currently lost in the enormous library of a New England manor house turned inn. Bernie's weekend hunt starts off promising until the place becomes snow-bound, the phone lines go out and bodies start appearing with show more regularity. Will the murders be just the distraction Bernie needs to cover his own crimes or will his nightly prowls make him the main suspect?
I found Block's The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart to be a real treat and I looked towards The Burglar in the Library to be more of the same. I was particularly interested in the Christie-esque setup and how that would mix with the Chandler/Hammett angle. I haven't read much of Christie but thought such a mixture might inspire me to read her more. The truth be known.... I didn't like it. At all. The best friend, Carolyn, grated on my nerves with each new page. "What do you think, Bern? What does it mean, Bern? Is that important, Bern?" It seemed her only reason for existing was exposition. It was so obvious and I resented it mightly. I think I'm pretty much done with this series... show less
Block's eighth "Burglar" book is a tribute to the history of twentieth century mystery fiction and, in it, he pays homage to everyone from Agatha Christie to Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and George Herman Coxe. Indeed, this book shows that Block is not just a writer of mysteries, but a reader of them as well as being a mystery historian.
Don't like murder mystery weekend stories where all the characters are stranded in some quaint hotel or bed and breakfast up in the Poconos and the guests are being killed off one by one? Well, you should still give this one a try. It is filled with Block's trademark humor and flows so much better than all those stiff Victorian mysteries.
Don't like murder mystery weekend stories where all the characters are stranded in some quaint hotel or bed and breakfast up in the Poconos and the guests are being killed off one by one? Well, you should still give this one a try. It is filled with Block's trademark humor and flows so much better than all those stiff Victorian mysteries.
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1990s
309 works; 17 members
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Author Information
492+ Works 38,093 Members
Lawrence Block is the author of the popular series' featuring Bernie Rhodenbarr, Matthew Scudder, and Chip Harrison. Over 2 million copies of Lawrence Block's books are in print. He has published articles and short fiction in American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, GQ, and The New York Times, and has published several collections of short fiction in show more book form, most recently Collected Mystery Stories. Block is a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America. He has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times, the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe award. In France, he was proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has been awarded the Societe 813 trophy twice. Block was presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana, and is a past president of the Private Eye Writers of America and the Mystery Writers of America. (Bowker Author Biography) Lawrence Block is the author of the popular series featuring Bernie Rhodenbarr, Matthew Scudder, and Chip Harrison. Over 2 million copies of Lawrence Block's books are in print. Lawrence Block has won the Edgar Award three times, the Shamus Award four times, the Maltese Falcon Award twice, and was named Grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America. (Publisher Provided) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Burglar in the Library
- Original publication date
- 1997
- People/Characters
- Bernie Rhodenbarr; Carolyn Kaiser; Nigel Eglantine
- Important places
- Massachusetts, USA; Cuttleford House
- Dedication
- For Peter Straub
- First words
- At three in the afternoon on the first Thursday in March, I got Barnegat Books settled in for the weekend.
- Quotations
- …this isn’t a cozy little English murder case at all, it’s tough and hardboiled and it’s not going to be solved by pussyfooting around like Miss Jane Marple or Lord Peter Wimsey. This is Philip Marlowe’s kind of cap... (show all)er.
"Darling, that was so well said that I only wish it weren't ridiculous."
...I'll spare you the fits and starts in which she told her story, along with the exclamation points that! accented! virtually! every! word! of it. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"I guess I'll have to."
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Statistics
- Members
- 935
- Popularity
- 28,425
- Reviews
- 24
- Rating
- (3.76)
- Languages
- English, Hungarian, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 25
- ASINs
- 15
