Rating: 
Summary: Starting To Get Repetitive
Review: Bernie Rhodenbarr, used bookstore owner who sidelines as a professional burglar, is recruited by a beautiful woman to recover some letters for her, illegally of course. The letters are correspondence between a reclusive author and his agent. The agent wants to sell the letters, given their highly collectable appeal; the author desperately wants to stop her. The farce begins when Bernie breaks into the agent's room, but can't locate the letters. Instead, he locates her dead body that is lying in bed after she has been stabbed in the heart. Bernie is arrested but soon released and is back in his bookstore, only to be visited by a series of people determined to get their hands on the letters and believe Bernie can help them. Although filled with the trademark Lawrence Block humour and snappy dialogue, this book doesn't quite contain the edginess of previous Burglar books. The scenario of Bernie illegally entering a room that later proves to contain a corpse has been played in the earlier books. A new concept would have been refreshing. If you haven't read any of the Bernie Rhodenbarr mysteries, you will probably find the story quite amusing and entertaining - and it is. If, however you have read a number of the books in the series, you'll find that it's all getting a bit repetitive.
Rating: 
Summary: A great way to spend an evening
Review: Bernie, Carolyn, and Raye once again team up for a wonderful evening of entertainment. Like all of the series, the focus is on the characters and not really on the plot. Of course Bernie burgles, a corpse appears and the story is off and running. Lots of great people make their debut in this book. A must for those who wish they could shop at Barngate Books.
Rating:
Summary: good,but not block's best
Review: i had been looking forward to reading lawrence block's latest book,but i have to admit that i came away a little disapointed this time.having been robbed recently,i am less inclined to accept a burglar as a hero!even so,i found much of the humor forced this time.try "the burgler in the library" it's a much better book.still,lesser lawrence block is better than most other writers out there!
Rating: 
Summary: Bernie is BACK!!
Review: I have read all the books in the series. "Burglar in theRye," was well worth the wait for the 9th Bernie "theBurglar," Rhodenbarr caper. Of course it came as no surprise that Bernie is caught and is suspect in murder. Of course his companion, dog groomer, Carolyn is there and so to is Ray "the best cop money can buy." The refreshing novel is a very good read. I was introduced to Lawrence Block when I read "The Thief who Traded Ted Williams," while traveling two years ago. Since then I have read most of Blocks series, novels and collections of sort stories. I am now waiting for the sequel to "Hit Man," due sometime next year. I had the pleasure of meeting Lawrence Block at a book signing a few weeks ago. I found him as charming and interesting as the books he has penned.
Rating:
Summary: A floor up from the "Library."
Review: I have read and loved all of Lawrence Block's "Bernie Books" and The Burglar in the Rye was one of the better books in the series. I was a bit disappointed with The Burglar in the Library, but this volume was more in the traditional "New York" style, with Block keeping us right in the immediate neighborhood of Barnagut Books. This tale turned out to be the easiest of all the "Burglar" books to figure out the "whodunit," as Block gave one too many clues as to the killer's identity this time. The tie-in wasn't developed very well either, but the ending was just as satisifying as most of Block's efforts as Bernie pulls all the characters into one room for his trademark unmasking of motives and eventually the killer. Not as good as his early efforts (the hastiness involved in turning out a book on a Mediterrainian cruise is apparent), but still one to rush out (or to the net) and buy if you like the genre. The book is topical and Bernie's wit is just as sharp as ever. The humor will have you laughing outloud at times as you wind your way through this leisurely read. I devoured it!
Rating:
Summary: The books one hates to love
Review: I really, really, really tried to not like Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr series. It represents a genre that I usually have no patience for, the comic mystery. I automatically want to dismiss these books as fluf and a waste of time. Yet Block is such a great writer that he can take this formula - a combination of Charlie Chan and Nick and Nora Charles 30's movie conventions - and create contemporary entertainments that work DESPITE the artifical conventions (getting all the usual suspects together at the climax of the story to reveal the murderer), the predictable plot elements (Bernie stumbling onto a body and being wrongly accused of murder), the exaggerated character types (the suspicious half-corrupt cop, the neurotic, lesbian friend etc) and the totally implausible story line. He does this effortlessly by spinning such a bright, charming screen of words that the reader is willing to relax and just go along, knowing that every digression will prove its own reward. Puns, literary allusions, jokes, embedded quotes and every kind of fine verbal slight-of-hand a writer could practice on the reader is used by Block to breath life into the old formula. It works. The reader is quickly seduced by these books and never cares that they are ultimately unbelievable, because they are so much fun.In The Burgler in the Rye, Bernie Rhodenbarr, burgler and antiquarian bookseller, is asked to recover the letters written to a reclusive literary agent by her even more reclusive main author Gulliver Fairborn (inspired, it seems, by phantom author J.D. Salinger). But lots of people want those letters, and when Bernie's B&E job doesn't find the letters but does uncover a very dead literary agent, the reader knows what is going to happen. How Bernie manages to extricate himself from a charge or murder, take care of several subplots and try to make a profit for himself provides Block plenty of latitude for creative imagination and convenient coincidence. The conclusion is the most convoluted in all the Burgler books I have read, but fun nevertheless. After all, nothing has been really true to life before it, so why fret at the end? One last word. The dialogue in these books is, I think, more entertaining than in any other series. The running conversations in this one between Bernie and his lesbian, dog-grooming friend Carolyn about whether she is becoming too feminine are really hysterical. This is really fun reading.
Rating:
Summary: Wishing for more
Review: I wish Block would write some new burglar books because his other series all seem to be alcohol related and depressing. Bernie is by far his best character.
Rating:
Summary: Salute Mr Block - You've done it!
Review: Kudos to Lawrence Block for creating a witty series in the burglar mysteries, and a special kudo for this entry -- the best of the bunch (so far). The characters are appealing, the dialog is pithy, and the plot is intriguing. As usual, burglary is mixed in with murder, and our hero must find the killer to clear his own name. I loved the way Bernie confronts the suspects in the dramatic scene in the apartment. Such an intellect hasn't seen the pages of fiction since Nero Wolfe. I highly recommend this well written book. I suspect Mr Block would make for a most interesting dinner party.
Rating:
Summary: Salute Mr Block - You've done it!
Review: Kudos to Lawrence Block for creating a witty series in the burglar mysteries, and a special kudo for this entry -- the best of the bunch (so far). The characters are appealing, the dialog is pithy, and the plot is intriguing. As usual, burglary is mixed in with murder, and our hero must find the killer to clear his own name. I loved the way Bernie confronts the suspects in the dramatic scene in the apartment. Such an intellect hasn't seen the pages of fiction since Nero Wolfe. I highly recommend this well written book. I suspect Mr Block would make for a most interesting dinner party.
Rating:
Summary: Another Good Book by Block
Review: Lawrence Block does it, again. This was an Amazon recommendation that hits the mark! I have read all the other "Burglar" books and enjoyed them all. Although I saw alot of the plot coming, Block surprised me with who the killer was...I never guessed this one. This is an enjoyable book with Block's loveable burglar: Bernie Rhodenbarr, friend Carolyn the dog groomer & Ray, the cop. He even brings back Marty from ---Ted Williams. Bernie once, again, brings the suspects together at the scene of the crime (a la Agatha Christies Poirot & Miss Marple) and explains "whodunit" and how. As usual, Bernie makes out like a bandit. Lawrence Block always satisfies with every novel and never misses a beat. Buy, read it, loan it to someone else. If you haven't read Block before, read this one. If you have read his other works...do not miss this one.
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