The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam
Chris Ewan
St. Martin’s, Nov 2007, $23.95
ISBN: 9780312376338
Charles Howard is the successful author of a suspense series starring a suave courageous cat burglar detective, Faulks. However, fiction imitates real life as Charles supplements his income and creative juices by being a successful burglar just like his Faulks is.
Howard is currently completing his latest Faulks thriller in Amsterdam when on his web site he receives an enigmatic summons that peaks his interest. He meets with an American who knows the truth about Howard’s moonlighting extravaganza; the American offers him 20,000 Euros to steal two monkey figurines. Reluctantly, as he wonders how his client knows the truth about his nocturnal activities, he carries out the assignment. However, when he returns to deliver the items, he finds his client almost dead from a vicious assault and the matching third figurine missing. As the Dutch police investigate the beating with Howard as a suspect, he makes inquiries that link back to a diamond robbery over ten years ago while his London based editor suggests plot changes, not realizing her recommendations might be tested in real life not a novel.
THE GOOD THIEF’S GUIDE TO AMSTERDAM is a humorous crime caper that pays homage to the classic To Catch a Thief, but does so in a lighthearted satirical tongue in cheek way. Charles is a unique impish rogue who finds himself in a dangerous encounter with a killer. The subplot involving his editor is creative and amusing as she offers advice to make his latest story line seem plausible and genuine, but not understanding that the escapade is real. Readers will enjoy this fine look at Amsterdam through the eyes of a cat burglarizing author struggling to keep his nine lives in tact.
Harriet Klausner
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