Second in the Good Thief Series (after Amsterdam), THE GOOD THIEF'S GUIDE TO PARIS sees the return of Charlie Howard, author and professional thief along with his agent Victoria and fence Pierre. Although in this book Victoria gets to be more than just a voice at the end of the phone.
You're going to get the idea of the plot of this book from the blurb, although what you aren't going to get is an idea of the elaborate twisting and turning, leaping and posturing that goes on to get to the nub of the problem. Although all of that carry on is fairly normal in Charlie's world. These books are an pleasing combination of light-hearted humour, a hefty dose of self-deprecation (including some plot elements where the reader seems nowhere near as confused as Charlie is) carried off with considerable aplomb. To be fair though, there are also a number of positively ridiculous scenarios carried off with more than a bit of ham-fisted reverse explaining.
There is a particularly nice sense of place about these books, and I will confess to a sneaking suspicion about research versus tourism and tax dodges = a book to justify the jaunt, which is part of the fun. You don't want to read these books too seriously and in this one in particular, definitely not for the destination. In fact I suspect that some readers of THE GOOD THIEF'S GUIDE TO PARIS are going to be chewing the edges of the book at some elements of the resolution, even though the journey there was seriously good fun.
The Good Thief's Guide to Paris
The moment I’d scanned the outside of the building, I turned to Bruno and said, “First impressions, it looks straightforward.” Looking back, I can’t help but wonder what I was thinking. I mean, put that line at the opening of a crime novel and it’s practically a guarantee that everything is about to get complicated.
Charlie Howard—globe-trotting mystery writer, professional thief, and poor decision maker—is in Paris. Flush with the success of his latest book reading, not to mention a few too many glasses of wine, Charlie agrees to show a complete novice how to break into an apartment in the Marais. Fast-forward twenty-four hours and Charlie’s hired to steal an ordinary-looking oil painting—from the exact same address.
Mere coincidence? Charlie figures there’s no harm in finding out—until a dead body turns up in his living room and he finds himself evading the law while becoming caught up in a quite outrageous heist. And that’s before Charlie’s literary agent, Victoria (who’s naive enough to assume that he looks like his author photo), finally decides they should meet face-to-face.
Nobody ever said a life of suspense was easy, but Charlie, the most disarmingly charming burglar since Cary Grant, soon finds things are getting way out of control.
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