He is hired by Alice Cottrell, a woman who had an affair with reclusive author Gullivan Fairborn, when she was a teenager. She wants Rhodenbarr to steal letters Fairborn has written, which his literary agent is about to sell to the highest bidder. Fairborn’s novel Nobody's Body had changed Rhodenbarr's life. Therefore, Rhodenbarr agrees to “liberate” the letters.

He takes a room at the Paddington Hotel as a cover. The hotel is home to artists, writers and rock musicians. When he goes to the room of Fairborn’s agent, he finds her shot to death. The letters are missing. To escape from the police, he leaves through the window. When he enters through another window, he sees a ruby necklace lying on the dresser. Of course, as a burglar, he cannot resist taking it. And, of course, he is apprehended on leaving the hotel by his old friend, crooked detective Ray Kirschmann, who strikes a deal with Rhodenbarr to split the proceeds from the necklace. Now he must seek the elusive Fairborn to unravel the twists in the murder, retrieve the missing letters, and clear himself.

This is Block's usual well-written, well-plotted adventure for Bernie Rhodenbarr. The action is fast-moving; the characters are all oddballs. The dialogue is clever and witty. There is much information about the Paddington Bear, which is most interesting. The plot resembles the true life story of author J.D. Salinger and Joyce Maynard. Bernie is, as usual, the prime suspect at the hands of his nemesis, Kirschmann, and holds his usual session in his quarters to reveal the real (and most unlikely) guilty party.

I found it interesting to learn that anything you write is automatically protected by copyright, whether or not you register it in Washington, DC.

A pleasant, enjoyable read for a quick escape from the tedium of living.....