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Title: A fine read, but not up to previous Block efforts
Review: It's hard not to like Bernie Rhodenbarr. He's confident, witty, wily, and has the devil's luck. He's also smug. In past Bernie adventures, his smugness has been nicely balanced by a self-deprecating sense of humor. That was only partly the case in The Burglar in the Library. Bernie has developed a super-human disdain for his travails, a kind of "been there, done that" quality that overwhelms any sense of tension in the book. Certainly in a light mystery you know from the outset that the good guy or gal will win, but you let yourself forget that by subtle agreement with the author in order to enjoy the various predicaments. In The Burglar in the Library, Bernie doesn't let you do that.Nonetheless, Lawrence Block at his weakest is much stronger than many other writers. And The Burglar in the Library certainly isn't his weakest. It's a fine enough read. You could do much worse.
