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The burglar : a novel / Thomas Perry.
Elle Stowell is a young woman with an unconventional profession: burglary. But Elle is no petty thief--with just the right combination of smarts, looks, and skills, she can easily stroll through ritzy Bel Air neighborhoods and pick out the perfect home for plucking the most valuable items. This is how Elle has always gotten by. She is good at it, and she thrives on the thrill. But after stumbling upon a grisly triple homicide while stealing from the home of a wealthy art dealer, Elle discovers that she is no longer the only one sneaking around. Somebody is searching for her. As Elle realizes that her knowledge of the murder has made her a target, she races to solve the case before becoming the next casualty, using her breaking-and-entering skills to uncover the truth about exactly who the victims were and why someone might have wanted them dead.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780802129000
- ISBN: 0802129005
- Physical Description: 288 pages ; 24 cm
- Edition: First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition.
- Publisher: New York : The Mysterious Press, an imprint of Grove Atlantic, 2019.
- Copyright: ©2019
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Burglars > Fiction. Young women > Fiction. Art thefts > Fiction. Murder > Fiction. Bel Air (Los Angeles, Calif.) > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Crime thrillers. |
Available copies
- 16 of 16 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Radium Hot Springs Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 16 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radium Hot Springs Public Library | FIC PER (Text) | 35130000043616 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2018 October #2
*Starred Review* As we've noted before, Perry writes very well about smart people, whichever side of the law they happen to be on: he shows them thinking, and that process of observing a mind at work, putting together a plan and then improvising on it, proves as compelling as any action scene, although Perry is plenty good at those, too. In his latest novel, the smart person being examined is a burglar, Elle Stowell, a young woman whose carefully designed appearance and lithe frame allow her both to blend in as she cases neighborhoods in tony Beverly Hills and Bel Air and to easily scale whatever drainpipe or climbing vine to gain access to the second floors of mansions. It's all going swimmingly until Elle finds three naked and very dead bodies in the bedroom of a home she was in the act of robbing. Elle skedaddles, but it quickly becomes apparent that the killers know about her and are eager to tie up any loose ends. So the thinking begins, as Elle tracks the murderers as they track her. What she uncoversâan elaborate fine-art scamâproves almost as fascinating as Elle's remarkable ability to put herself into and then extract herself from harm's way. Nobody drives a narrative like Perry; sure, he knows how to stomp on the gas pedal and negotiate the curves, but, best of all, he does that while dispensing unfailingly interesting information about stuff we've never bothered to think about, which is one more reason we can't get enough of Perry's smart people. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2018 October #2
In case you've forgotten, Perry (The Bomb Maker, 2018, etc.) reminds you that it takes a thief to catch a killer. Elle Stowell has robbed a lot of houses, but her discovery at the home of retired financial services officer Nick Kavanagh, owner of the Kavanagh Gallery, is a first: the naked corpse of Kavanagh, together with those of socialite Anne Satterthwaite Mannon and Hollywood director's wife Valerie McGee Teason, huddled together in the host's bed, each of them shot in the head. Even more bizarre, a digital movie camera at the crime scene has recorded everything from Kavanagh's original propositioning of the two women to Elle's entrance 12 hours later. What to do? Since "Elle was both good in intention and bad at carrying out good intentions," she neither destroys the memory card nor brings it to the LAPD but anonymously mails them a copy from which she's excised her own image and keeps a copy of the undoctored card herself to prove that she arrived on the scene long aft er the murders because she thinks that the worst thing that could happen to her is getting arrested. Sure enough, her very next job is interrupted by some peopleâshe's not sure whoâshe hears walking around the house, and her plan to join a friend on a long-distance vacation till things cool down ends with things considerably heated up. By that time, however, Elle's figured out that the biggest threat to her safety isn't the police but the killer whose handiwork she stumbled on. Instead of trying to solve the murders in order to prove her own innocence, she now has a much more compelling reason to figure out who's got her in their sights: turning them over to the authorities before they can kill her too. All the relentless drive of Perry's tales of concealment specialist Jane Whitefield (Poison Flower, 2012, etc.) but there's a less compelling logic behind both the burglar's actions and the murderer's. Copyright Kirkus 2018 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2018 August #1
Just nominated for the 2018 Macavity Awards, Perry here introduces us to Elle Stowell, who thrives on stealing from the Bel Air rich and famous. Then she encounters a gruesome triple murder and realizes that she had better find the killer before he finds her.
Copyright 2018 Library Journal. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2018 October #4
Burglar Elle Stowell, the whip-smart, fearless protagonist of this uneven standalone from Edgar winner Perry (
Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly.The Bomb Maker ), comes from a family of thieves. She approaches every job analytically and is meticulous in her planning. But when she breaks into an L.A. mansion and finds three dead bodiesâone male art gallery owner and two affluent married womenânaked on a bed in the master bedroom, she becomes the target of a group of professional killers. As the killers' search for her intensifies and the body count rises, the diminutive burglar must uncover the reason why the gallery owner and women were murdered before she becomes the next casualty. The first part of this tight narrative, which is equal parts mystery and thriller, is virtually un-put-downable. But the story starts to unravel in the second part, when numerous plot holes become apparent. In addition, the weak ending will leave readers less than satisfied. Perry fans will hope for a return to form next time.Agent: Mel Berger, WME. (Jan.)
