Bernie Rhodenbarr is a personable chap, a good neighbor, a passable
poker player. His chosen profession, however, might not sit well with
some. Bernie is a burglar, a good one, effortlessly lifting valuables
from the not-so-well-protected abodes of well-to-do New Yorkers like a
modern-day Robin Hood. (The poor, as Bernie would be the first to tell
you, alas, have nothing worth stealing.)
He's not perfect, however; he occasionally makes mistakes. Like
accepting a paid assignment from a total stranger to retrieve a
particular item from a rich man's apartment. Like still being there when
the cops arrive. Like having a freshly slain corpse lying in the next
room, and no proof that Bernie isn't the killer.
Now he's really got his hands full, having to locate the true
perpetrator while somehow eluding the police -- a dirty job indeed, but
if Bernie doesn't do it, who will?