Obviously the life of a cat burglar wouldn't be straight boring - he'd run into 'situations', although unlikely situations like this, to where he's in his dentist's chair and asked, in between tooth work, if he would hit up the ex-wife's apartment and steal back some jewels. As always Bernie is a fun character who fully embraces his immoral outlooks but lives with his own code of honor in the thieving world. Love that the hands-out detective made his appearances; hope he does for all the books.

Bernie Rhodenbarr's dentist hires him to steal his ex-wife's jewels. The problem is she inconveniently gets murdered while Bernie is hiding in her closet. Before you know it, the police are after Bernie for not one but two murders. Can Bernie clear his name before the police catch him?I have to admit that after the first Burglar book, I was a little skeptical. Block changed my mind with this one. While the plot is quite similar to the first book, Burglars Can't Be Choosers, it's better executed....

This is the third book I have read about The Burglar and the second one written. Like the others, it stars master thief Bernie Rhondenbarr and has a light, almost airy feel to the story. Which is odd as in almost every book it seems that our misguided protagonist is caught up in some dastardly murder or with some violent characters who are after him or a close associate. Despite the threat of grievous bodily harm (and killing Bernie is often the most grievous harm they wish to perform) or incarc...

This book inspired one of the greatest head-scratchers in the history of film adaptations when Hollywood decided that Burglar would feature Whoopi Goldberg playing a white male and Bobcat Goldthwait would be perfect as a lesbian dog groomer.I got to meet Lawrence Block while he was on a book tour for Hope to Die, and I asked him if he knew what prompted the movie producers to have Whoopi play Bernie. Even though it was obvious that he’d answered this about a million times before Block patiently

The second Bernie Rhodenbarr novel is another very light entertainment from the prolific Lawrence Block. The joy of reading these books lies simply in the opportunity to hang out with Bernie who is, by profession, a gentleman burglar. The plots are almost always meaningless and sometimes nonsensical, but the basic format of the series is that Bernie is minding his own business, gently burgling someone's empty home or office, when bad things happen and Bernie finds himself in a mess. The mess usu...

Book 2 in the Bernie Rhodenbarr series published 1978.Another episode in the life of Bernie Rhodenbarr the world’s most respectable burglar.Once again Bernie finds himself on the wrong side of the law. Whilst getting a routine teeth examination Bernie’s dentist vents his animosity towards his ex wife, who had divorced him and took more than her fair share of his wealth. Now the dentist wants to get even. His plan is to get Bernie to break into her house and divest her of most, if not all, of her...

Bernie Rhodenbarr is hiding in the closet while someone kills his dentist's soon-to-be ex-wife. Quite a pickle! Enjoyable series.

Lawrence Block is moving his way up my favorite author list with every book that I read of his. This series follows Bernie Rhodenbarr our favorite burglar and if you want the standard Block grit and seriousness then this series isn't for you. This has just as much humor as it does action/mystery as we followed our lovable thief as he continues to get himself in all kinds of trouble. It has a New York feel to it so if that's something you like (or don't like) be warned.Not 5 stars because I thoug...

Really enjoyed the book. I read some later books in the series but wanted to go back to the start. Not disappointed and the story has aged well. Another great mystery from Block.

This Bernie Rhodenbarr mystery starts slowly but soon builds to a satisfying conclusion. Bernie is accused of murder when his dentist's ex-wife is killed. Recommended to all Bernie fans.

The Burglar in the Closet: Being the second confession of Bernard Rhodenbarr, Gentleman Thief. It's all fun and games until a burglar gets framed for murder.In this confession we discover that Bernie is a terrible drunk, resistible to women, prone to errors on the job, a master at breaking and entering and leaving as much as he takes, beloved by his neighbours, an amateur sleuth and claustrophobic. We discover these facts in due course as he recounts the details of the time he was persuaded to s...

A quick, entertaining read with good humor spread throughout, and a decent story to keep things going. Bernie is a pretty likeable character in spite of being a burglar - although I would probably change my opinion if he robbed me. He's definitely not your typical burglar - he doesn't live high on the hog, he's pretty honest in most cases, and he has scruples. It's probably best to read the books in order, but perhaps not necessary.

Well, well, well, another adventure with Bernie. So who’s Bernie? Easy, remember Archie? Nero Wolf's, do everything partner. Well move him up a couple of decades but keep him the same age, drop Nero and make him a professional burglar and that's him. I'm telling you it's the same guy, breezy, flippant, what me worry attitude, good line of gab, sense of humour, smooth talker with the dames. Archie, Bernie, call him what you like, same guy.Did I say 'professional' burglar? Yeah. Problem is, there

Bernard Grimes Rhodenbarr is an interesting character to say the least. He is a burglar, a smooth talker, an even smoother operative in the field of breaking and entering, outwardly calm, charming, wise cracking and occassionally loud mouthed a person ! The best thing about him is that he manages to solve mysteries while he is busy with all the above activities. Talking about his methodology of solving mysteries, it is neither the logical way noor the way of deductive reasoning. His mysteries go...

I’m enjoying these Bernie Rhodenbarr books. This is the second and establishes a bit of a pattern: Bernie, a professional gentleman burglar in New York, takes on a job and as a result finds himself wanted for a murder he didn’t commit. He then has to solve the crime to prove himself innocent, usually assisted by his female companion of the moment.It’s very nicely done. Don’t look for hard-boiled realism, but the plot is well structured and the story very well told in Bernie’s wry, observant voic...

Well read again by Adams Morgan, whose voice fits Bernie Rhodenbarr perfectly & captures the other New Yorkers well, too. (I love Mrs. Hesch. Reminds me of my Aunt Anna.) Bernie is again suspected of murder & must find the real killer before the cops find him. There were so many similarities to the first in the overall plot that I just couldn't give this another star, although it wasn't bad. The end worked out about how I expected, but there was a bit of twist that I thought was over the top. (v...

Second in the series, building on the breakthrough of new character hapless burglary Bernie Rhodenbarr.Follows much the same plot lines as book one with Bernie’s poor neighbours overrun by cops looking for a murderer when another break-in goes wrong.However, while the parameters may be similar there is a lot of innovation and no Block story is ever short of delightful characters.You take in the atmosphere of New York as the story becomes an investigation for the truth. The sights and sounds of t...

What a fun read! I had forgotten this series until it came up in conversation somewhere. Bernie Rhodenbarr is every bit as enjoyable as I remember. It's a quick read, but there is a place in life for those.

Pity poor Bernie. Instead of a nice clean burgle, he gets a dead body and no loot at all. Then, to add insult to injury, he's accused of having done the killing. Naturally, he can't cop to having been on the scene, so he absolutely has to prove his innocence. The doing of which makes for an entertaining and highly amusing tale, even if it is a bit over the top.