The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams

Former burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr has sworn off his life of crime to open a bookstore. But when he finally gives in to the temptation to backslide, he finds he's just broken into an odd locked room mystery. And then he's accused of a different burglary that he didn't even do.

This isn't a book I probably ever would have picked up on my own. While I do occasionally enjoy a mystery novel, it's really only a genre I dabble in, and I'm disinclined, in general, to start any series in the middle. Which this is, being the author's return to this particular series after a long hiatus. Also, the plot revolves around collectible baseball cards, which strikes me as one of the more boring possible things for a plot to revolve around.

But a friend show more bought me a copy and assured me that I'd like it. I'm pretty sure I was giving him a skeptical look at the time, but, as usual, he turned out to be right. Because I definitely enjoyed this one! The plot is ridiculous and convoluted, but in a fun way. Indeed, it seems like the whole thing sits just inside an ambiguous gray area between being a mystery novel and a parody of mystery novels, and it's remarkably comfortable in that spot. The writing is breezy and funny, with a sense of humor that's a strangely delightful combination of wit and silliness. It was even amusing and entertaining enough to quickly overcome my visceral dislike of people who get their jollies breaking into other people's homes and to make me sort of like the main character despite myself. Which is actually kind of impressive.

There is one sour note, which is a bit at the end where it treats a possible very creepy sexual assault in exactly the same flippant manner as it treats everything else, which... Well, let's just say that hasn't aged well since the novel's 1994 publication date, although I'd like to think that even then it would have taken me aback somewhat.

That aside, though, it was lots of fun. I'm not sure if it ever quite made me laugh out loud, but it did make me smile a lot. Oh, and it also features books and a cat, so I suppose it really was kind of up my alley, after all. show less

This was a really funny book. And you know, I know people like Bernie Rhodenbarr, with his strange, cynical sense of humor. They are good people and I think if I did not know real people, I may not have enjoyed this book as much as I did. And while it is one of a series, it works very well as a standalone.

It's NYC in the mid-90s so it is a slower paced world with people who make phone calls from pay phones and no internet. Bernie is a reformed burglar who is making a living off his low rent bookstore until his new landlord steps in. And lo and behold, the low rent is now going to be upped by $10K per month.

And then Bernie's burgling itch starts up that evening over drinks with his good friend and fellow small business owner, Carol. He show more really doesn't mean to, but he eventually winds up in an apartment where the rich older couple is in Europe for a while, and things happen. Like, jewelry and cash and, wait, why is this door locked? Oh. it is, and there's a dead guy in it. But the door only locks from the inside (an interesting look at burgling and the tools and the folks who are able to enter locked doors and drawers) and how did he get dead?

A cast of characters that border on the all-money-but-no-brains category ensures that I had to keep guessing who was doing what. Oh, and some of them were related to one another for an interesting plot twist. Then there was the stolen baseball card collection and the reasoning for some cards being more valuable than others, and you get a funny and strangely twisted story of burgling and mayhem and a very strange ending. I will say it did not go at all the way I expected. show less

This book takes on the age old puzzler of the dead body inside a room that has been locked from the inside - but there is no gun present, so it can't be suicide. The only way the body is discovered is because the hero (?) is a burglar who picks the lock to find out what treasures are being hidden behind the locked door. He finds the body, uses his tools to lock the room back again and then returns everything he took to it's proper place and leaves.

This is but one small piece of a very elaborately plotted mystery that has multiple characters, going in all different directions, with uncertain motives, and larceny in their hearts. It is done with style and humor that is hardly ever smart-assed or vindictive, but rather sly and witty. The show more plot twists keep coming and to clean it all up the writer has an Agatha Christie ending where the hero has everyone assembled while he explains the case to them. In the middle of this scene the writer also uses a Perry Mason courtroom ending where one of the killers does a complete confession for no apparent reason except that we are at the end of the book and need to move on.

Whatever flaws you find in this book you are likely to forgive because it is all done with great style and flair. Lawrence Block writes another series of mysteries that are more realistic and are also very much a love song to New York City. In this series that he has written about Bernie Rhodenbarr the action takes place in New York as well. But the love song in these books is more about life itself, where killers and burglars are not the ones that get punished, but where the petty, mean spirited, decietful characters (the kind of people we the readers meet everyday in our own lives) these are the are the ones that get their comupance at the end of Bernie's books. show less

Block, Lawrence. The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams. 1994. Bernie Rhodenbarr No. 6. HarperTorch, 2005.
It has been a year since Bernie has done any burgling, but now his bookstore needs an infusion of cash. While he is burgling one apartment, a murder is being committed in another, and to make matters worse, he is accused of stealing some valuable baseball cards he didn’t touch. Coincidences like this seem to dog his career in crime. As usual with Lawrence Block, the plot is constructed well, and the dialogue is sharp and breezy. If you need some beach reads this summer, take along a stack of Burglar Who books. 4 stars.

Everybody needs comfort food reading once in a while, and this was sitting on my shelf. I'm not sure that this is a great mystery novel, or even a great book, since I'm not a fan of the genre, but the characters are fun, the plot flows and twists, and everybody gets together at the end for the reveal of the killer.

There are eleven books in the Bernie Rhodenbarr series, but if you have read just one of them, then you have a pretty good idea of how the plot goes. Bernie is the world's most expert burglar, except he thinks of himself as sort of retired from the business and devoted to running his used and antiquarian bookstore, which is around the corner from his best friend, Carolyn Kaiser's dog grooming shop. He can't stop himself from burglarizing, but, even though he is non- violent and a gentleman at all times, he is always tripping over dead bodies and his attorney is always bailing him out for robbing and murdering people he didn't. But, Bernie can't present an alibi usually because, while he wasn't doing the crimes he was accused of show more committing, he was probably down the hall or around the corner, burglarizing another apartment. And, to finish it off, Bernie's stories are always a sort of world onto themselves, kind of like sinking into a mushy hell of Six Degrees of Separation where everyone is sort of connected to anyone else. In a nutshell, that's a Burglar book for you.

The thing is that Block is such a talented writer that, as a reader, you don't care if the books have similar plotlines any more than you care if all the James Bond movies have a similar plot. This book, like the others in the series, is a funny, comedic journey through New York's East Village and it is simply an enjoyable read that is hard to put down. Be forewarned that this is not the gritty meat of a Scudder book or even of Block's Kit Tolliver stories. This is a series that is light and airy and humorous and filled with coincidences.

What does Ted Williams have to do with all this? Well, someone thinks Bernie stole his collection of Ted Williams baseball cards and everyone thinks he has them or has fenced them or something and bad things are going to happen if he doesn't turn them over. show less

I've owned this book for 19 years and I finally got around to reading it. Why the delay? I've no idea. I remember enjoying other books in the series. It makes even less sense when I tell you how much I enjoyed this one. A wonderfully intricate plot, great characters, lots of laughs, all these add up to an excellent read. Now I need to find the ones I've missed!