The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling — Lawrence Block

BERNIE-THE-BOOKWORM WANTED TO BURGLE AN EASY 15 GRAND, BUT HE FOUND HIMSELF PICKING HIS WAY OUT OF MURDER!

Bernie Rhodenbarr had cleaned up his act, quietly peddling books in his little store near Greenwich Village. Then one Rudyard Whe'kin walked in willing to shell out fifteen thousand for a volume of Kipling so rare that only a single copy exists -- in the library of a millionaire's mansion.

So guess who goes book-browsing under cover of night? And quicker than you can say "limited edition," Bernie has exactly what Mr. Whelkin was after.

Perfect. Except the very next day a pistol-toting Sikh drops in shopping for -- right again --Kipling. And if that's not enough to ruin Bernie's day, then it's finding himself looking at a corpse, with a smoking gun in his hand, the cops on his trail . . . and the killer bookworms just waiting to remove Bernie from circulation.