The Good Thief's Guide to Paris: A Mystery

by Chris Ewan Narrated by Simon Vance

Overview

Charlie Howard-globe-trotting mystery writer, professional thief, and poor decision maker-is in Paris. Flush with the success of his latest book reading, 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, finally decides that they should meet face to face. Nobody ever said a life of suspense was ever easy, but Charlie, the most disarmingly charming burglar since Cary Grant in It Takes a Thief, soon finds things are getting way out of control.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Charlie Howard, a crime writer who's also an international burglar, once again makes a funny, fast-talking narrator in Ewan's delightful second mystery (after 2007's The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam). Tipsy after a Parisian book signing, Charlie agrees to show a new acquaintance the basics of the trade by breaking into the man's own apartment. Trouble ensues when the apartment actually belongs to someone else. Charlie's fence commissions him the next day to break into the same apartment to steal an apparently worthless painting, and the apartment's real owner turns up dead in Charlie's apartment. Hiding in a Montmartre hotel, Charlie tries to save his skin while also placating his attractive agent, Victoria, who's arrived unannounced only to discover that the client she's grown so close to by phone looks nothing like the author photo he provided. That Charlie pens a memoir titled The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam adds a nice postmodern touch to a classic caper. (Nov.)

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Library Journal

Mystery writer and sometime professional thief Charlie Howard (introduced in Ewan's debut, A Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam) foolishly agrees to show one of his fans how to break into an apartment after a book signing event in Paris-simple, no problem. The next day, his fence calls and orders the theft of a painting from the very same address. Charlie is perplexed but not worried, and the job goes well. However, he returns home to find a dead body in his flat, which presents a real problem. Calling the police would reveal the hot painting as well as the corpse. Moreover, his prickly agent is due to arrive at any moment, and they've never met face to face. His fence is now curiously unavailable to receive the painting, and Charlie thinks he's being tailed by a suspicious guy in a Jaguar. Once again, Charlie finds himself in a convoluted set of circumstances worthy of one of his own book plots. Filled with mistaken identities, hot Picassos, mysterious hit men, and a tricky bit of art swapping at the Pompidou Center, this novel features wonderful descriptions of locale, engaging and wacky characters, and an entertaining plot that will leave readers eager for the next book. Highly recommended for all mystery collections. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ7/08.]
—Susan Clifford Braun

Kirkus Reviews

A tutorial in larceny leads to a study in homicide. The guy seems harmless enough. Granted, what he wants borders on the bizarre, but then Charlie Howard (The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam, 2007), part-time mystery writer, part-time burglar, full-time scalawag, is plenty bizarre in his own right. They're both part of the scene at Paris Lights, the best known bookstore in France, when the young man with the dazzling smile asks Charlie to make him his protege. He wants Charlie to teach him the fine art of breaking and entering. The target, it turns out, is his very own apartment. Charlie signs on and, when one thing leads to another, finds himself enmeshed in a scheme to filch Picasso's The Guitar Player, currently on display in a carefully guarded Parisian gallery. Or perhaps not quite as carefully as its guardians think. At any rate, Charlie, along with several among the band of entrepreneurial thieves, sees it as vulnerable, and so the game's afoot. Before it's finally over, The Guitar Player has changed locations, the protege has changed sides, and Charlie has changed hair color to elude a gendarmerie eager to have him account for a certain inconvenient dead body. A feast for the amoral, but how many readers will take to a protagonist who unhesitatingly frames a friend in order to save his own hide?

From the Publisher

Fast and funny, Ewan's second offering in the Good Thief series is even better than the first.” —Booklist (Starred Review)

“Charlie Howard ... once again makes a funny, fast-talking narrator in Ewan's delightful second mystery.” —Publishers Weekly

“A feast for the amoral.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Wonderful descriptions of locale, engaging and wacky characters, and an entertaining plot that will leave readers eager for the next book. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal

Library Journal - AUDIO

Ewan's Charlie Howard series is unusual because the protagonist both writes crime novels about a burglar and is one himself. Each tale is set in a different city. In this second outing, Howard, in Paris to publicize his latest work, is finagled into stealing a painting of no obvious value. Soon, he discovers that nothing is as it seems and finds himself suspected of murder. Howard is a delightful creation—smart, clever, and a bit naïve. Simon Vance, an excellent reader of thrillers, ably conveys the character's mixture of duplicity, bumbling innocence, and charm. Ewan provides light entertainment with a bit of an edge while capturing the glamour and magic of the setting. This program should appeal to fans of thieves, exotic locales, and, especially, Lawrence Block's similar Bernie Rhodenbarr novels.—Michael Adams, CUNY Graduate Ctr. Lib.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169804867
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	10/01/2011
Series:	Good Thief's Guides , #2
Edition description:	Unabridged

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