Customer Reviews

The Burglar in the Closet: A Bernie Rhodenbarr Mystery

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This is the second of eight novels in the Bernie Rhodenbarr series by author Lawrence Block who has written many other novels. I was first introduced to Bernie when I picked up a copy of "The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams," in a discount pile of books on the way down south on I-95. I have also read and reviewed "Burglars Can't Be Choosers," which introduces us to Bernie a burglar who lets himself into wherever he wants to go with his trusty set of burglar tools. Bernie gets himself into trouble, again. This time while burglarizing an apartment he is locked into a closet. He has already lifted the jewels he came for. His victim is Crystal Sheldrake the ex-wife of Bernie's dentist who puts him up to the crime. While locked in the closet Crystal is murdered by another intruder. The weapon just happens to be a dentist's scalpel. Once again this full-time cat burglar must turn part-time detective to save his own skin. "The Burglar in the Closet," is fun as are the other "The Burglar Who..." books I have read.

Lawrence Block is the mystery writer for the thinking person. His Bernie books are witty, humorous, well-written, and, most importantly, never take the reader for granted. These books are intelligent and are completely satisfying. This book, the second in the series, is a wonderful romp. I can't recommend this book enough!

This was the one that started it all - this series is outstanding.

Lawrence Block must have needed an outlet for his vast knowledge of the whole detective fiction genre. He has used this character, a New York burglar, as the means to roam over the whole territory of mystery fiction, from the "murder in a teacup" school of Agatha Chrstie, to hard-boiled detectives noir, through the "To Catch a Thief" cat-burglar dimension.

Bernie, for his part, is quite unassuming. He's a guy who is just trying to make a living. In fact, in a way he would tell you he's cursed with a compulsion to earn his living by breaking into other people's living spaces and stealing their stuff. It is the act itself that excites him, unfortunately.

If he ever took therapy, like his soulmate John Keller, goodness knows what would come out of it. What sort of analytic theory explains the thrill of a man deftly, gently nudging, poking, and twisting picks in a lock until, with the slightest movement, suddenly the lock yields to his gentle but insistent touch?

Beats the hell out of me.

Bernie's just a regular guy, and he gets sidetracked from his work by once in a while by homicides right in front of him, by his love/hate relationship with a parasitic and corrupt NYPD officer, and but his social obligations to his gay best friend. Their relationship alone sparkles and is well worth the price of admission.

I want to thank my sister for introducing me to Bernie, and for being patient with me while I adopted him slowly.

The richness of this writing is what puts Lawrence Block at the top of the game today. You'll enjoy this - guaranteed.

Lawrence Block is one of our most talented mystery authors. In the Bernie Rhodenbarr series he explores out an ordinary, but intelligent, "honest" person might go about pursuing a life of crime as a fastidious and talented burglar who isn't proud of what he does, doesn't like to hang out with criminals, and really gets a big thrill out of breaking and entering . . . and removing valuables. As you can see, there's a sitcom set-up to provide lots of humor. But the humor works well in part because Mr. Block is able to put the reader in the Bernie's shoes while he breaks, enters and steals . . . and evades the long arm of the law. To balance the "honest" burglar is an array of "dishonest" and equally easy-money loving cops. As a result, you're in a funny moral never-never land while your stomach tightens and your arm muscles twitch as tension builds. To make matters even more topsy-turvy, Bernie at some point in every story turns into an investigator who must figure out "who-dun-it" for some crime that he personally didn't do. It's almost like one of those "mystery at home" games where the victim comes back as the police investigator, playing two roles. Very nice!

So much for explaining the concept of the series. The Burglar in the Closet is the second book in the series. I strongly suggest that you begin the series by reading Burglars Can't Be Choosers. Each story in the series adds information and characters in a way that will reduce your pleasure of the others if read out of order. Although, I originally read them out of order and liked them well enough. I'm rereading them now in order, and like it much better this way. The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling comes next in the series.

As Stephen King likes to point out, a great way to start a book is to put a character in an unusual situation and then let things happen from there. The Burglar in the Closet certainly follows that route in a successful manner with what reads and feels like a very realistic (and hilarious to think about) burglary experience.

The complications soon start coming from all directions like sharpened spears, and Bernie's ducking before one of them hits him! Along the way you'll meet The World's Greatest Dentist and his hygienist, some remarkably vivid barflies, and visit again with the brilliant, but bent cop, Ray Kirschmann from Burglars Can't Be Choosers. Bernie gets accused of just about everything but what he actually did, and as before, straightens matters out through his own investigation.

I thought that the identity of the more serious criminal was pretty obvious, but the plot develops in such a witty, charming way that I didn't really mind. The plot is pretty complicated, and will keeep you on your toes . . . so pay attention!

This book is definitely a step up from Burglars Can't Be Choosers and really establishes the series as a solid one for fans of off-beat mysteries.

As I read this book, I was reminded of Murphy's Law (anything that can go wrong, will). Most of the unpleasant situations in our lives come about because we ignore Mr. Murphy. This book will certainly remind you to think through what could go wrong . . . before you go ahead.

Donald Mitchell
Co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage

Less well known than some of the installments that followed it in the "Burglar" series, THE BURGLAR IN THE CLOSET is a fabulous play-fair whodunnit, filled with great character bits and at least a dozen scenes that will make you laugh out loud. Bernie is not yet the proprietor of his used bookstore here -- he's a full-time burglar and part-time detective, working desperately to free his dentist from a charge of murder. Block's authoritative asides on the science of burglary are delicious and the climactic unmasking of the killer at the end is entirely satisfying. (Fans of the series will note that this book contains the first appearance of artist Denise Raphaelson, who returns to great effect in Block's brilliant THE BURGLAR WHO PAINTED LIKE MONDRIAN.)

When Bernie's dentist, Dr. Sheldrake, asks him to burgle his ex-wife apartment, what a guy to do? Supposedly, Crystal has a stash of jewels that her husband wants back. Unfortunately, while Bernie is searching the apartment, Crystal comes home early. Bernie ends up getting locked in the closet and once he manages to get out, finds Crystal dead on the floor with a dental instrument stuck in her chest. Now Bernie must find out what happened to the jewels while trying to avoid being accused of murder himself when his dentist, Dr. Sheldrake, points the finger at him to take suspcision away from himself. An amusing read that reqires some thought since there are several other key players in the mix.

I read this book before I read the first one in the series. It didn't matter much but it does reveal some plot points from the first book and if you want to go into the series blind, I recommend starting with the first, Burglars Can't Be Choosers.

I felt the cement around our favorite thief, Bernie Rhodenbarr, starts to firm up with this book. The character is still being fleshed out and Lawrence Block can take him in a lot of directions from here, if he wants, but an established personality is developing nicely.

The setup and mystery of this book are similar to the first but different enough that you don't feel like you are just reading a rehash. Block can't keep going on this tack without seeming redundant but for now it is fine. And I guess the main reason it works is that the motivation to solve the mystery and the development of the mystery is different in each book.

I'm interested in what happens to Bernie next. I will check out the third book to see where Block leads Bernie and the readers and then I'll decide if it is still worth following. For the moment, I'm willing to join in.

Although this was not the first 'Bernie Rhodenbarr' mystery in the series, this was my first book by the author. I found the book to be quite good. His first mistake was to not have taken the jewels in the closet with him. It was really far-fetched to think that he would ever find the jewels and I knew that it would be very difficult to find the killer AND the jewels, but in the end, it worked out quite well for him. I will continue to follow with the rest of the 'Bernie Rhodenbarr' mysteries.

If you miss Lawrence Saunders, then meet Lawrence Block. His series reminds me a lot of Saunders' Archy McNally, except that Bernie's on the other side of the law!! But the gist is the same, bachelor, swinger, funny, and always entertaining. In this installment, he steals jewels,which are stolen from him, doesn't kill someone the police think he killed and sleeps with a girlfriend that ain't his. But he puts everything (well, almost everything) back into balance by the end of the story, though he doesn't get the jewels or the girl. A good read, and an entertaining plot that doesn't give itself away until the very end, it will make you want to get the rest of Block's series. Easy going fiction.

This is the second novel in the series about Bernie Rhodenbarr, gentleman burglar. The first book was pretty good, and the later installments are quite good, the author having developed the character and his circumstances more thoroughly, but this one is really pretty weak. Bernie is visiting the self-described World's Greatest Dentist, who informs him he knows his patient is a burglar, and that he has a target to suggest to him -- his ex-wife, Crystal. She has a great deal of valuable jewelry and Craig the dentist would very much like to see her lose it -- with himself getting a percentage of the take, of course. So Bernie, who ordinarily prefers to find his own jobs, is nevertheless gleefully rifling her apartment while she's out bar-hopping, but she comes home early and he has to take shelter in the bedroom closet. And then someone knocks on the door and stabs her in the heart with a dental scalpel. Naturally, the cops like the ex-husband for it. And, naturally, Craig rats out Bernie, who now has to solve the crime himself to stay out of jail. The investigation takes him to bars and lawyers' offices and the apartments of several apparent accomplices, and also the bed of Jillian, a lovely young dental hygienist. And the dialogue is light and Bernie's descriptions of events are generally funny, but the plot itself is relatively underdeveloped. Bernie seems able to work out events on the thinest of evidence -- or else the reader simply isn't being told the details of much of his investigation. Actually, I was expecting Jillian to turn out to have had a more active role in the murder, but Block was content to let her remain a spear-carrier. Not a bad book but far from being one of Block's better efforts.