Chris Ewan (1) (1976–)

Book two in the Good Thief’s Guide mystery series, has author and thief Charlie Howard in the City of Lights. He agrees to a reading at a bookstore and following the event joins a few people for drinks. Under the influence he agrees to show one of the patrons how to break into a building. Of course, they are breaking into the man’s own apartment. The next day, Charlie is contacted by his usual fence with a new “commission” to steal a painting … at the same apartment. And then things get complicated.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but this one fell flat for me. Oh, I still like Charlie and I like the way he thinks. He’s fiercely independent but possibly not so good at truly hiding his identity as he has always thought. I enjoyed the introduction of Victoria, his agent; she really added a lot to this episode.

But this plot went all over the place. I never did really figure out the role of a few of the players. One thing I expect of mysteries is that the conclusion answers all my questions, and this one did not. Though he did set up the next in the series rather nicely, so I’ll probably read more.… (meer)

I don't remember what I expected from this book, but it certainly wasn't what I got. The plot was all right, with its fair share of twists, but the book, especially towards the end, was incredibly cliched. Example: The ending is purposely ambiguous so as not to prematurely reveal all. He talks about how he calls "this person" or goes on "errands". This is done so he can have a big reveal at the end, which is incredibly cliched and annoying. And his big reveal goes on FOREVER!!! The character keeps going back and changing facts and mentioning things that he conveniently forgot to mention several paragraphs ago. Is it too much to ask for a simple "The butler did it!"?

And I totally called the murderer. It seems that Ewan's work mirrors that of his character (or maybe vice versa) in that you can see the murderer a mile away. There were a few things that threw me for a loop, but the insanely long delivery time was both cliched and boring.

The book wasn't terrible, it was an okay read most of the way through, but it really petered out toward the end in a disappointing and long winded way.… (meer)