This is such fun, a good, light-hearted caper of theft and skulduggery introducing us to a memorable anti-hero, one Charlie Howard, writer and thief. He is asked to steal two plaster monkeys and straightaway the fun begins. Sadly the explanation of the crimes at the end is a tad drawn out – almost Poirot style – but it’s certainly the most enormous fun getting there.
Charlie Howard doesn't just write books about a career thief, he also happens to be one.
In Amsterdam working on his latest novel, Charlie is approached by a mysterious American who asks him to steal two apparently worthless monkey figurines from two separate addresses on the same night. At first he says no. Then he changes his mind. Only later, kidnapped and bound to a chair, the American very dead and a spell in police custody behind him, does Charlie begin to realise how costly a mistake he might have made.
The police think he killed the American. Others think he knows the whereabouts of the elusive third monkey. But for Charlie only three things matter: Can he clear his name? Can he get away with the haul of a lifetime? And, can he solve the briefcase-shaped plot-hole in his latest novel?
Chris Ewan is the award-winning author of The Good Thief's Guide to... series of mystery novels. His debut, The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam, won the Long Barn Books First Novel Award and is published in 10 countries, and Amsterdam, Paris and Vegas have all been shortlisted for CrimeFest's Last Laugh Award. Born in Taunton in 1976, he now lives in the Isle of Man with his wife, Jo.
