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The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams
Bernie Rhodenbarr series

by Lawrence Block



      In The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams, Bernie Rhodenbarr has been "on the wagon" for a year, earning his living as the owner of a used bookstore rather than burgling domiciles. He falls off the wagon when his new landlord, Bernie Stoppelgard, tells him that he plans to raise the rent by over 1000%. Needless to say, the used bookstore is not doing well enough to cover the increase. Bernie succumbs to temptation and returns to his life of burglary. Bernie is wrongly accused of stealing a million dollar baseball collection. His alibi is even worse: he was breaking into another apartment to burgle it and found a dead body. If he tells the truth, he could be accused of murder. Bernie has no choice but to become an amateur sleuth and figure out the identity of the dead body and the murderer. Bernie solves the whodunit á la Agatha Christie; he gathers all the suspects together to explain how the deed was done.

Sprinkled throughout the book are humorous references to Sue Grafton's alphabet mystery series. Fans of the Bernie Rhodenbarr series will consider this novel one of Lawrence Block's best. Although there are several references to earlier books in the series, first-time readers will have no problem enjoying this novel, but I do recommend going back and reading the series in order. The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams is a hilariously funny, witty whodunit that takes many twists and turns before the mystery is solved. It is a really fun read that I most highly recommend.

The Book

HarperTorch / HarperCollins
October 2005
Paperback
0060731443
Mystery
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Excerpt
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The Reviewer

Robin Thomas
Reviewed 2005
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© 2005 MyShelf.com