The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons

by Lawrence Block

Paperback, 2013

Status

Available

Call number

FIC F Blo

Publication

Lawrence Block (First Edition)

Pages

240

Description

Bernie Rhodenbarr returns in an eleventh adventure that finds him and his lesbian sidekick Carolyn Kaiser breaking into houses, apartments, and even a museum, in a madcap adventure replete with American Colonial silver, an F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscript, a priceless portrait, and a remarkable array of buttons. And, wouldn't you know it, there's a dead body, all stretched out on a Trent Barling carpet.

Collection

Barcode

2358

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2014-05-15

Physical description

240 p.; 9 inches

ISBN

9780991068425

User reviews

LibraryThing member tjsjohanna
Bernie, the perpetually young-ish burglar/bookstore owner is back. He's not in danger of being accused this time, but he is still illegally employed in burglarizing homes. This time his client and a murder case have an unlikely connection. One of the best things about this series is all the
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tongue-in-cheek stuff that makes up the dialog. I always enjoy the laughs.
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LibraryThing member branimal
Bernie Rhodenbarr is approached by a customer with a proposition: steal a coveted first printing of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. When Bernie hands over the desired document, he’s then asked to steal a silver spoon adorned with the likeness of Benjamin Gwinnett, a background player in the
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signing of the Declaration of Independence.

As if this isn't enough to keep Bernie busy, he’s approached by an old friend on the other side of the law for a consultation regarding a recent break and enter that left an elderly woman dead. Can Bernie steal the silver spoon and crack the case at the same time?

I had been reading a few of Block's earlier novels published through Hard Case Crime when I received an offer from his publicist to take a look at The Burglar Who Counted The Spoons. I was a little apprehensive at first because as a reader, I never read out of sequence. This isn’t as strict as Batman's "one rule" but it’s something I prefer to abide by. However, it's Lawrence Block and it’s an advanced copy of his new book – how could I possibly say no? Truth is, I’m glad I didn't.

Not having read the previous ten installments of the Burglar series, it’s impossible for me to judge whether or not I would have had a richer reading experience had I read them first but that being said, it’s hard to imagine needing a lot of back story going in. Block does a great job bringing the reader up to speed on Rhodenbarr’s world as a semi-retired burglar who happens to own and operate a bookstore.

It’s worth mentioning that Block is a damn funny guy. There were a few laugh out loud moments in the novel that I had to highlight and save for later, my favorite being:

"..'It was a real Playboy fantasy, wasn't it? She’s hot and gorgeous, she does everything you can think of and a couple of things you can’t, and then she’s gone. It doesn't get any better than that.’

'It could have been better. Around four in the morning she could have turned into a pizza.'"


When it comes down to it, this is light storytelling at its finest. While the history of the silver spoon was tightly researched and the reasoning behind its procurement had been interesting, the free-flowing conversations between Bernie, Carolyn and Ray were the highlight, leading to the pages breezing by. I will be seeking out the earlier Bernie novels for sure – I suggest you do the same.
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LibraryThing member ecw0647
“Every passion is interesting to him who suffers from it. And one sometimes feels impelled to inflict it on others.” That could be the motto of this book. I suspect, that in addition to stamps, of which we learn a great deal in the Keller series, Block is enamored of political buttons and
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hoards of historical trivia. Did you know that Vermont had been a republic that had issued its own coinage? From 1777 to 1791, it was, when it split off from New York, when the colonies revolted and Vermont decide to revolt against New York. Its independence was recognized by New York in 1791 when it then decided to join the United States as the Fourteenth. State, especially after it was not permitted to join Quebec.

I mention this only because there are substantial passages in the book where the man who hires Bernie to steal a couple of things related to buttons, goes on at some length about various things. Now, it so happens, that I enjoy learning about stamps and buttons and other little arcane facts such as William Howard Taft being known as Billy Possum and Eugene Debs running for office while being incarcerated for his opposition to WW I so his buttons had imprinted on them, “For President: Convict No. 9563.” Fascinating. Not to mention the Apostles spoons.

We all love the Bernie Rhodenbarr series of books. Bernie, you may remember, owns a used book store, but steals things on the side. It’s quite interesting. I’ve listened to Block read his books, and there is a certain rhythm and cadence that I feel when I’m reading them, not unpleasant, just uniquely his style.

There’s one passage that I just have to quote. Bernie has been approached by a customer and they begin discussing first editions of Gatsby. They conclude precisely what I feel about the book.

“The Great American novel? No, hardly that. The puzzle of Gatsby is how so many otherwise perceptive people can find so much to admire in it. Do you know why Jay Gatsby is such an enigma? It’s because Fitzgerald himself never had a clue who the fellow was. An arriviste, a parvenu, an upstart if you will, a man who made big money in a hurry and got his hands just a little dirty in the process. Hardly a rarity at the time, and there was a fellow in Boston with a similar story who got his son elected to the White House. Fitzgerald didn’t know what to make of Gatsby, and the literary establishment has responded by enshrining his bafflement. So no, I don’t think much of Gatsby, or your Mr. Fitzgerald.”

The plot revolves around a short story written by Alexander Roda Roda (not to mention puns on Doran Doran and Meyer Meyer not to be confused with Meyer Meyers) and published several years before Fitzgerald’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” appeared in Collier’s magazine yet the premise of the story was the same, an individual is born old and then gets gradually younger. But the key is on his name.

Bibliophiles and trivialists will certainly enjoy this book especially. Five stars for a great story with lots of trivia. Two stars for those people who will get bogged down by the detailed information. So 3.5 stars rounded off to 4.
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LibraryThing member Kathy89
Bernie, used book store owner by day and burglar by night is helping his friend a cop find the murderer of a wealthy women while running a con on a client who wants him to steal an Apostle Spoon. Light amusing read while the author takes several jabs at e-readers and Amazon.
LibraryThing member nina.jon
The 11th adventure starring burglar/ solver of murders Bernie Rhodenhall.
This is the first of the series I've read. I bought it expecting a sort of golden age murder mystery and was surprised when it turned out to be set in the modern age. Our protagonist, Bernie Rhodenhall, owns a bookshop getting
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squashed by Amazon et al. To supplement his living, he works as a gentleman burglar for hire. Unfortunately he keeps stumbling across dead bodies in the course of the night job. Strangely this doesn't seem to put him off his better paying profession because this is the 11th in the series. To prove his innocence he sets out to solve the case, assisted by what another reviewer refers to as the regular cast. I can't remember how he explains his presence at the scene to the police when he unmasks the villain, but he does.
Bernie R is a bit clumsy, shy and engaging because of it. He's more Watson than Sherlock. As a reader I wanted it to turn out well for him, and it sort of did.
As 254 pages it's the perfect holiday read.

Nina Jon is the author of the newly released Magpie Murders - a series of short murder mysteries – and the Jane Hetherington's Adventures in Detection crime and mystery series, about private detective Jane Hetherington.
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LibraryThing member jamespurcell
Lawrence Block has a way with words and his alter ego, Bernie Rhodenbarr, aptly demonstrates it. It is enjoyable to see another delightful entry in really fun series about an artful burglar who still keeps his day job at Barnegat Books. His short friend Carolyn is a hoot and their running patter
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about "Juneau Lock" is aptly transitioned to an appropriate finale. A suitable "Stoutian" climax is finessed sans Archie and Wolfe but with sufficient stolid police presence from an enlightened Ray Kirschmann and colleagues.
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LibraryThing member jamespurcell
Lawrence Block has a way with words and his alter ego, Bernie Rhodenbarr, aptly demonstrates it. It is enjoyable to see another delightful entry in really fun series about an artful burglar who still keeps his day job at Barnegat Books. His short friend Carolyn is a hoot and their running patter
Show More
about "Juneau Lock" is aptly transitioned to an appropriate finale. A suitable "Stoutian" climax is finessed sans Archie and Wolfe but with sufficient stolid police presence from an enlightened Ray Kirschmann and colleagues.
Show Less
LibraryThing member JohnWCuluris
Bernie Rhodenbarr returns for his 11th adventure, the first in nine years, and if there’s any complaint it is same one that has been cropping up regularly with Block in the last decade or so: meandering. I’ve been guilty of such complaints and I also recognize a certain hypocrisy in making
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them. In Block’s Matt Scudder series Matt can wander anywhere in conversations with TJ or Ray Gruliow and we’re gladly along for the ride. Yet Keller, the protagonist of his most recent series, frustrates while doing everything but fulfilling his contract. I suspect familiarly is the difference. Matt and Bernie have a supporting cast that are like old friends to longtime readers. We want to know what they have to say.

In Spoons Block’s tangents happen early and those that are not particularly interesting are at least not terribly distracting, in part because he never strays too far from the main stories. In the first Bernie, a success as a profession burglar and not quite so much as a bookstore owner, is engaged by a new client to steal several collector’s items. As always, Bernie is entertaining as he surveys, plans and accomplishes his thefts. In the second concurrent story he assists his “friendly adversary” of several novels, Detective Ray Kirschmann, in an advisory capacity. Kirschmann catches a case where a burglary resulted in murder. There had to be a murder, of course. Bernie books traditionally end with him holding court before the suspects with a Rex Stout/Agatha Christie style denouncement.

Lighthearted, humorous and satisfying, Spoons is a welcome return of old friends. And as an aside: it contains perhaps the shortest chapter in history. Which, I promise, will get no complaints and not a small laugh.
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LibraryThing member asxz
Lightweight fun. Not sure there's anywhere else for Bernie Rhodenbarr to go and even this one feels like it was strictly for fans, but, as a fan, I lapped it up. There's even some nice meta-commentary as perma-sidekick Carolyn notes that there was less burgling and more sleuthing in this one and
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suggests that Bernie could pursue this instead of being a criminal. He dismisses the idea neatly with a reference to Dan Marlowe's The Name of the Game is Death. Like I said, strictly for fans.
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LibraryThing member RobertaLea
Good-bye to my friend Bernie. I am going to miss him. A great series. Great characters. Looking forward to another Lawrence Block series in the next year.
LibraryThing member BrianEWilliams
Bookseller and part-time burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr investigates in his unique way the sudden death of a wealthy widow in her upper east side Manhattan brownstone. It's a whodunit with an intricate plot told in Lawrence Bock's signature saucy style. It helps to know Manhattan geography, but the
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story can be enjoyed without such knowledge. The story is entertaining and informative, with plenty of historical trivia. Recommended as a light read with interesting characters and a strong sense of place.
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Rating

½ (64 ratings; 3.9)

Awards

Goldsboro Last Laugh Award (Shortlist — 2015)

Call number

FIC F Blo
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