Book Synopsis: Literary agent Anthea Landau, legendary resident of Paddington Hotel, is auctioning off her personal correspondence from enigmatic writer Gulliver Fairborn. Her famous ex-client, who guards his private life so jealously that he has never been photographed or interviewed, is reportedly outraged by Landau's betrayal--yet can't afford to outbid the collectors who are fighting to get their hands on his letters.
Bernie Rhodenbarr is at the Paddington to make sure they never do. Gully Fairborn is Bernie's literary idol, so when Fairborn's ex-lover, Alice Cottrell, asks the bookseller-burglar to help her return the letters to their rightful author, Bernie doesn't hesitate. He breaks into Anthea Landau's suite and finder her--dead.
The police burst in, and Bernie takes a fire escape down to an empty room, where he quietly pockets some nice ruby jewelry. Minutes later, he is under arrest. By the time Bernie is bailed out, his bookstore is visited by a host of mysterious folks, all demanding the letters he doesn't have. That's when Bernie learns that the gems he does have were heisted the night before he stole them.
Now, to clear his name and right some terrible wrongs, Bernie must solve a murder or two, track down a rival thief, retrieve the missing letters, find the rubies' rightful owner, and still manager to protect the elusive Gulliver Fairborn...without getting caught.
