The Burglar in the Closet by Lawrence Block
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"My name is Bernie Rhodenbarr and I'm a thief and I love to steal. I just plain love it.

Rearranging books in the back row on a high shelf I happened on Lawrence Block's The Burglar in the Closet (1978) and remembered how much I liked the book when I first read it, almost 30 years ago. Do I like the book as much now, when I am wise and mature... I mean decrepit and senile? Yes, I still do.

This is the second installment in the Rhodenbarr series. We meet Bernie as he prepares to burglarize an apartment in the Gramercy Park area of Manhattan. Let me explain that Bernie loves his job not only because the substantial financial rewards it brings. He also - or maybe mainly - loves the thrill of not getting caught. And this time around he indeed does get a generous helping of thrills. As hinted by the title he gets stuck in a closet and he sees things that he would prefer not to see. Anyway, the intelligent and quite plausible plot moves fast and captures the reader's attention. Two murders, massive amounts of money, what's not to like? Of course, the denouement disappoints a little but not as much as usually in mysteries.

Obviously, this novel should be read not for the plot but for breezy, whimsical prose, full of often sophisticated humor. Bernie's phone conversation with Denise Raphaelson is a gem: full of sweet tease and flirt. I was giggling for two minutes, which itself is worth the price of the book (used, "Officially withdrawn from New Haven Free Public Library"; by the way how could a public library not be free?) While the dentist office humor is not as lofty it is also funny and "Mr. Thirsty" (a dental saliva ejector, wow, that's a mouthful - a pun, a pun!) is also worth a giggle or two.

Mr. Block does romance well too. I like the passage when Jillian (no, not Denise, Bernie is quite popular with ladies) reacts to Bernie's offer of sleeping in the chair in her apartment:

"'Bernie?' She gazed up at me from beneath those long eyelashes. 'Bernie, don't be ridiculous.'
'Oh,' I said, and looked deeply into her eyes, and smelled her hair. 'Oh'"

A trifle, but a very entertaining one! I am now searching for the first installment in the series, Burglars Can't Be Choosers.

Three and a half stars.


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