The Burglar

by
Thomas Perry 

The Burglar, a murder mystery, follows the day-to-day exploits of Elle Stowell a experienced house burglar in Los Angeles. Stowell looks younger than her age and is able fit right in with the beautiful, fit and energetic women who live in the neighbourhoods that she robs. The Burglar is the latest in a series of several books written by Thomas Perry.

Elle Stowell has never been arrested for Burglary in spite of the fact that she has robbed multiple house in well to do neighbourhoods of Los Angeles. Things are going well for Stowell until she stumbles onto the scene of a multiple murder and she begins being pursued by someone who must have seen her on site. To save herself she must now use her skills to solve a crime rather than commit one.

Thomas Perry has received numerous accolades for his excellent books, but I expect this one will not be remembered as one of his best. The descriptions of how to break into a house and what to steal are tedious. When Elle is discovered she seems to be able to carry on staying in nice hotels and sleep well while people around her are being murdered. When the murderers are revealed, their motives for committing several crimes seem superficial and opportunistic rather than skillfully planned. Finally how could a security company hired to monitor break-ins not know someone was monitoring their offices for weeks. All this makes the book hard to read.

The book is structurally and grammatically well written and a quick read, but the story line leaves me with no choice but to not recommend this book. I give it a 2 on 5.

I want to thank NetGalley and The Mysterious Press for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.