Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jul 2009
304 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
Paperback Original
A career criminal with OCD tendencies and a savant-like genius for bringing order to his crime scenes, Martin considers himself one of the best in the biz. After all, he's been able to steal from the same people for years on end—virtually undetected. Of course, this could also be attributed to his unique business model—he takes only items that will go unnoticed by the homeowner. After all, who in their right mind would miss a roll of toilet paper here, a half-used bottle of maple syrup there, or even a rarely used piece of china buried deep within a dusty cabinet?
Even though he's never met these homeowners, he's spent hours in their houses, looking through their photo albums and reading their journals. In essence, Martin has developed a friendship of sorts with them and as such, he decides to interfere more in their lives—playing the part of a rather odd guardian angel—even though it means breaking many of his twitchy neurotic rules.
Along the way Martin not only improves the lives of others, but he also discovers love and finds that his own life is much better lived on the edge (at least some of the time) in this hilarious, suspenseful and often profound novel about a man used to planning every second of his life, suddenly forced to confront chaos and spontaneity.
"[A] charming if rambling debut ... he's created a winning hero in Martin, a crook with a heart of gold." - Publishers Weekly
"A very funny adventure about the mechanics of burglary and the fragility of an orderly life." - Kirkus Reviews
"Starred Review. A loopier Bernie Rhodenbarr? A less lethal Dexter? Martin falls somewhere in between, but with a little word of mouth and some shrewd promotion, he could be the next big thing." - Booklist
This information about Something Missing was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Matthew Dicks lives in Newington, Connecticut. This is his first novel.
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