The Burglar Who Counted The Spoons - Lawrence Block
Rating: 10 spoons out of 13

 Bernie Rhodenbarr is back after a ten year absence and up to his usual tricks once again. In a fast moving, comedy crime caper Bernie has to deal with a mystery involving an obsessive button collector, a dead body, a agoraphobe who never leaves his apartment, a rare and valuable set of silver spoons and some very attractive young women with rather questionable morals.
The novel has plenty of sidebar passages where the characters discuss life, love, books, etcera but this doesn't distract from the plot but rather adds to the books charm and readability. The plot itself - no spoilers - it zips along at a good pace and it isn't anything too deep. The denouement is another satisfying Bernie Rhodenbarr/Nero Wolfe set piece.

"I suppose your wondering why I gathered you all here..."

Overall the 'Spoons' is a worthy addition to the Bernie Rhodenbarr series. I just hope it isn't ten years until the next one.

An Ideal Combination

Irish pubs always have books in them.  Usually antique editions, dusty, displayed out of reach on high shelves.  Decorative allusions to the literary past and old world charm.  The books in The Old Punchbowl's library aren't there as decoration, they're there to be browsed, handled, picked up, flicked through and read and enjoyed by anyone who wants to.  Most of the books were mine although there has been some very welcome donations from customers.

  My own contributions include books by authors such as Colin Bateman, Mark Billingham, Ken Bruen, Lawrence Block, Raymond Chandler, Dashiel Hammett, Michael Dibdin, Colin Dexter, Tana French, Kinky Friedman, Joe R.Lansdale,  Ed McBain, Ian Rankin, Jim Thomson and Dave Zeltserman.

  Spot the pattern yet ?  Crime fiction, perhaps more than any other genre of fiction it seems to fit neatly into the pub environment.  The discreet dimmed lighting, a quiet corner with a  comfortable seat and a hard wooden table, a sense of humanity around you, muffled noise and movement creating an atmosphere without being an overt distraction.  A good book and a good drink, paired together, an ideal combination.