The Burglar in the Rye: A Bernie Rhodenbarr Mystery

In this latest from the renowned mystery author, Bernie Rhodenbarr returns to retrieve the lost letters of famed reclusive author Gulliver Fairborn, but instead discovers a dead literary agent and a beautiful woman.

Block's addictive series about bookseller/burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr (The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian, etc.) continues as our hero invades the hotel suite of an aged literary agent in search of a cache of letters, by a respected and reclusive writer, that are wanted by people both legitimate and not. As he usually does, Bernie finds a corpse on the other side of the locked door he so neatly opens, and he is immediately suspected of murder by his nemesis, sticky-fingered Ray Kirschmann of the NYPD. More murder ensues before Bernie, with the help of his lesbian buddy Carolyn, can get a handle on the proceedings. But when he does, and has gathered all the principals into a room for the inevitable explanatory/accusatory windup ("I suppose you're wondering why I summoned you all here," he gets to say, to his and the reader's delight, time and again), he hits on a solution that fingers a most unlikely suspect, satisfies all the claimants to the letters and leaves him (and Ray) richer. Block's effortless mastery of his material, his relaxed ease, are as pleasurable as always, and he has some splendid fun with an author not unlike J.D. Salinger. This is the prolific Block's only new novel of the year, and it's a steal at any price. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

If you catch the allusion in Block's title, you're in just the right mood for Bernie Rhodenbarr's ninth spot of burglary-cum-detection. Alice Cottrell, a former teen prodigy who spent three of her Wonder years with Gulliver Fairborn, the famously reclusive American writer whose first novel changed the life of every teenager who read it, has hired Bernie to steal Gully's letters to Anthea Landauthe ex-agent who's about to put them up for auction even though Gully copyrighted themso that Alice can protect her old mentor by destroying them. Bernie checks into Anthea's hotel (the seedy, genteel, splendidly evoked Paddington) breaks sedately into her room, and begins his search for the letters. But he has to leave half a step ahead of the law when he realizes that the reason Anthea isn't listening to his burglarious noises is that she's dead and the cops are knocking. Except for the corpse, this may sound as familiar as last week's literary gossip, but when Bernie stops to purloin a ruby necklace from another Paddington guestroom he passes through during his escape, he opens a whole new can of worms and unleashes a comic nightmare of collectors, scholars, spurned lovers, and garden-variety thieves. The shaggy mystery, which requires an even more hyperextended finale than The Burglar in the Library (1997), manages to honor most of the conventions of the formal detective story even while sending them all giddily up. And if Bernie Rhodenbarr weren't already irresistible, the Salinger/Maynard tie-in would hook the stragglers. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

If truth is stranger than fiction, it also sometimes makes for some funny fiction. In Block's ninth Bernie Rhodenbarr mystery, obviously inspired by the J.D. Salinger/Joyce Maynard literary tempest in a teapot, our beloved burglar/bookstore owner has been hired by Alice Cottrell, the former teenage lover of reclusive author Gulliver Fairborn, to steal Fairborn's letters before his former literary agent Anthea Landau can auction them. Slipping into Landau's room at the Paddington Hotel, Bernie discovers the letters gone and Landau murdered. As usual, Bernie is considered a prime suspect by the police and must prove his innocence with the aid of dog washer and lesbian buddy Carolyn Kaiser. Although lightweight, this is an entertaining read filled with Block's trademark humor and clever plot twists. In addition, Block throws a few satirical jabs at the literary world. One hopes The Burglar in the Rye will amuse the elusive and (litigious) author of The Catcher in the Rye.
-AWilda Williams, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

When Block returned to his Bernie Rhodenbarr series after a lengthy hiatus, Bernie's fans rejoiced. The bookseller-thief remains one of the most endearing characters in the genre, and combined with a stellar supporting cast, remarkably clever premises, and nonstop humor, the series offers terrific entertainment. This latest Bernie book provides all of the above, though not in quite the quantity of such series high-water marks as The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart (1995). This time Bernie accepts the pro bono job of stealing a Salinger-like writer's letters before his former agent can publish them. Naturally, the agent is dead when Bernie arrives on the scene. With the help of his lesbian pal Carolyn, Bernie sorts through a bushel of literary scalawags, including a Joyce Maynard figure, leading up to a Nero Wolfesque finale. Great fun, certainly, but this time Bernie's banter seems less fresh, the premise not as cleverly developed. Still, Rhodenbarr a shade off form remains close enough to perfection to please even the most demanding readers. Bill Ott