shanviolinlove's review against another edition
Engaging novel; I almost didn't realize, at first, that I was engaged in a murder mystery. It reads like a fun contemporary novel. Props to the French phrases at the end of the novel, and the creative notion to have a thief write "fictitious" memoirs of his career as a thief, and get caught up in the Million Dollar Heist.
However, the actual narration reminds me of something I myself would have written as a juvenile; the characters are extremely overdramatic, all a bit unrealistically eager to get themselves involved in this story (in reality, a publisher would not be so personally drawn to help a thief out of a murder investigation). Lighthearted novel, but nothing more to it.
However, the actual narration reminds me of something I myself would have written as a juvenile; the characters are extremely overdramatic, all a bit unrealistically eager to get themselves involved in this story (in reality, a publisher would not be so personally drawn to help a thief out of a murder investigation). Lighthearted novel, but nothing more to it.
thelaurasaurus's review against another edition
4.0
I’m not sure why I chose to buy this book rather than Amsterdam which was the first one but it didn’t really matter, everything was explained.
Charlie is hired to teach someone to break into an apartment and then hired by someone else to steal a painting from the same apartment the next day. Then a dead body appears in his living room. The rest of the book is the classic whodunit but with humour injected which really made a change from the usual depressing crime dramas that I go for.
I was pleased that I really enjoyed this book as I seem to spend so much time complaining about things in my one woman book club. The writing has a light tone and it is very funny which makes it so much more readable.
Of course I couldn’t get through a review without pointing out a problem and there’s a spelling mistake on page 193. Never mind though, it didn’t stop me enjoying the book so the rest must have been really good!
Charlie is hired to teach someone to break into an apartment and then hired by someone else to steal a painting from the same apartment the next day. Then a dead body appears in his living room. The rest of the book is the classic whodunit but with humour injected which really made a change from the usual depressing crime dramas that I go for.
I was pleased that I really enjoyed this book as I seem to spend so much time complaining about things in my one woman book club. The writing has a light tone and it is very funny which makes it so much more readable.
Of course I couldn’t get through a review without pointing out a problem and there’s a spelling mistake on page 193. Never mind though, it didn’t stop me enjoying the book so the rest must have been really good!
skconaghan's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Just good—fast to read, twisty-plot, clean-criminal fun.
zogg's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
lian_tanner's review against another edition
I can't give this a rating because I didn't finish it. It just didn't grip me - the characters seemed superficial and the story overly clumsy. I persevered for a while, because I liked the idea - but in the end it just irritated me too much.
magdon's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this one better than the first one. much more complicated mystery (at least i had no idea what was going on). but still didn't care terribly much what happened. took me a long while to read it because of that.
sethlynch's review against another edition
5.0
The Good Thief’s Guide to Paris is the second in the series. The first was Amsterdam. The three main characters from the first book are here in Paris – Charlie Howard (he is the narrator so I guess he has to be there), his literary agent Victoria, and his fence Pierre. Victoria’s voice was in the Amsterdam book – being on the end of the phone. She acts in both books as a sounding board for Charlie – and, maybe, a love interest? There is also an interesting new character – who may only appear in this book although I would like to see him come back – called Mr Farmer. Farmer is a fixer for a number of people. He reminded me of the Fat Man from the Maltese Falcon, although based on his description I think he is probably more Robert Morley. (And now I’d really like to watch a Robert Morley film.)
The humour form the first book is here again. It’s a nice accompaniment to the plot and is usually at Charlie’s own expense. The plot is confusing in a good way (a lot happens and we are as lost as Charlie is, almost anyway) – I’m not going to try to explain it because I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone who hasn’t read it, and I doubt I could remember all the twists. I was quite pleased not to have gotten the final twist – if I’d stopped to think about it I probably could have worked it out, but I didn’t want to stop I wanted to carry on reading. The book ends with some useful French translations which made me laugh out loud.
I liked the feel of Paris in the story. In this book the Pompidou Centre is a central focus. I could picture it clearly. I have been there twice – once for the excellent Surrealist exhibition, then a year or so later for the not so excellent Dada exhibition. The Dada one had too much material and not enough space – one of André Breton’s notebooks was open in a display and people kept bumping into me as I was trying to read it. We did conceive my eldest daughter, Minty, on that trip so I can’t complain.
If you haven’t read any of these books yet then you should start now. There are three in the shops already. You can advance order the guide to Venice – which is out at the end of April.
The humour form the first book is here again. It’s a nice accompaniment to the plot and is usually at Charlie’s own expense. The plot is confusing in a good way (a lot happens and we are as lost as Charlie is, almost anyway) – I’m not going to try to explain it because I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone who hasn’t read it, and I doubt I could remember all the twists. I was quite pleased not to have gotten the final twist – if I’d stopped to think about it I probably could have worked it out, but I didn’t want to stop I wanted to carry on reading. The book ends with some useful French translations which made me laugh out loud.
I liked the feel of Paris in the story. In this book the Pompidou Centre is a central focus. I could picture it clearly. I have been there twice – once for the excellent Surrealist exhibition, then a year or so later for the not so excellent Dada exhibition. The Dada one had too much material and not enough space – one of André Breton’s notebooks was open in a display and people kept bumping into me as I was trying to read it. We did conceive my eldest daughter, Minty, on that trip so I can’t complain.
If you haven’t read any of these books yet then you should start now. There are three in the shops already. You can advance order the guide to Venice – which is out at the end of April.
aspygirlsmom_1995's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
theroamingleo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
2.75
Read the 1st book (Amsterdam) a few months ago and forgot about some of my annoyances with the author. Quick read. Not a biggest fan of the writing, especially when it comes to the female characters…cringy. Did enjoy this book a bit more than the last