I have read and enjoyed several of Westllake's comic Dortmunder novels not in any particular order. Dortmunder is a professional thief who along with his crew tend to foul up most every job they pull. In this one, Dortmunder is pulled into a plot to steal a painting by a man named Chauncey from his New York townhouse as part of an insurance scam. Chauncey wants to collect the insurance on the painting valued at about $400,000 and then keep the painting hidden away in another location so he can enjoy it. Dortmunder must bypass the alarm system, avoid a houseful of guests and some security guards and in turn gets paid $100,000 but only after the insurance pays off. To make sure Dortmunder doesn't make off with the painting, Chauncey also hires a hit man to keep an eye on the thief. Okay, this looks like an easy job for Dortmunder and his gang â in and out while Chauncey keeps his guests occupied. But then as usual things go wrong! The painting gets lost in a throng of drunken Scot's men as the gang makes their getaway though a neighboring hotel. So if Dortmunder does't provide the painting to Chauncey in the next six months, the hitman offs him... Time to come up with another plan.

As usual, I enjoyed the antics of Dortmunder and his crew. Westlake keeps the story moving with a series of clever schemes and plans that always seem to go awry. The novel had lots of humor and of course things didn't work out as planned. I was a little disappointed in the ending which kind of left some loose threads but I do have a few more of this series on my TBR shelves that I'll be looking forward to reading along with some other Westlake novels.

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