Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Nov 2008
240 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
Charlie Howard travels the globe writing suspense novels for a living, about an intrepid burglar named Faulks. To supplement his income - and to keep his hand in - Charlie also has a small side business: stealing for a very discreet clientèle on commission.
When a mysterious American offers to pay Charlie 20,000 euros if he steals two small monkey figurines to match the one he already has, Charlie is suspicious; he doesn’t know how the American found him, and the job seems too good to be true.
And, of course, it is. Although the burglary goes off without a hitch, when he goes to deliver the monkeys he finds that the American has been beaten to near-death, and that the third figurine is missing.
Back in London, his long-suffering literary agent, Victoria (who is naive enough to believe he actually looks like his jacket photo), tries to talk him through the plot problems in both his latest manuscript and his real life - but Charlie soon finds himself caught up in a caper reminiscent of a Cary Grant movie, involving
safe-deposit boxes, menacing characters, and, of course, a beautiful damsel in distress.
"Starred Review. [T]his 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." - Library Journal.
"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?" - Kirkus Reviews.
"Starred Review. That Charlie pens a memoir titled The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam adds a nice postmodern touch to a classic caper." - Publishers Weekly.
"[An] enjoyable plot and engaging characters ... A good first novel with lots of potential as a series." - Booklist.
This information about The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Chris Ewan, who lives on the Isle of Man, was voted one of America's favorite British authors in a Huffington Post poll. He is the author of the stand-alone thriller, Safe House, which was named by The Telegraph as one of the top ten crime novels to take on vacation, and the Good Thief mystery series. The first in the series, The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam, was named one of the "best books for grownups" by Publishers Weekly and AARP The Magazine, and one of the best thrillers of the year by the London Times.
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