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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lawrence Block is one of the most respected and bestselling names in mystery fiction and has won three Edgar and four Shamus awards. He is the author of the Bernie Rhodenbarr mysteries and the Evan Tanner novels. All are published by No Exit Press. He is also the author of the outstanding Matthew Scudder series.

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Literary agent Anthea Landau, legendary resident of the Paddington Hotel, is auctioning off her personal correspondence from enigmatic writer Gulliver Fairborn. The reclusive Fairborn can't afford to outbid the collectors who are fighting to get their hands on the letters. Bernie Rhodenbarr's at the Paddington Hotel to make sure they never do. Bernie breaks into Anthea Landua's suite. And finds her...dead. The police burst in, and Bernie takes a fire escape down to an empty room, where he quietly pockets some nice ruby jewellery. Minutes later, he is under arrest.

When Bernie is bailed out, he learns that the gems were heisted the night before he stole them. Now, to clear his name and right some terrible wrongs, Bernie must solve a murder or two, track down a rival jewel thief, retrieve the missing letters, find the rubies' rightful owner, and still manage to protect the elusive Gulliver Fairborn...without getting caught.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM

'Lawrence Block's language - is dry and droll and elegant, like how Dashiell Hammett would write if he was still doing the Thin Man books today' - The Guardian [read the full review]

'For clean close-to-the-bone prose, the line goes from Dashiell Hammett to James M Cain to Lawrence Block. He's that good' - Martin Cruz Smith

'A master of crime fiction' - Jonathan Kellerman

'Block is one of the best ' - Washington Post

'if you are coming new to Lawrence Block.....it will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship' - Vincent Banville, Irish Times