Donald E Westlake: 55 books

Featuring Westlake's hapless hero John Dortmunder, this original compilation of short stories ties in to the author's latest Dortmunder hardcover, "The Road to Ruin."

When sixteen copies of a famous Aztec statue arrive in New York, men will die to find out which one is the real thing A small South American republic has decided to capitalize on its national symbol: a prized gold statue of a dancing Aztec priest. The president asks a sculptor to make sixteen...

Be careful what you steal . . . A fast-paced crime caper from the Edgar Award–winning author and “funniest man in the world” (The Washington Post Book World). The Byzantine Fire is much more than a ninety-carat ruby. As a stone it’s worth over a million dollars, a value vastly increased...

SOME PEOPLE WILL DO ANYTHING FOR MONEY Mavis St. Paul had been a rich man’s mistress. Now she was a corpse. And every cop in New York City was hunting for the two-bit punk accused of putting a knife in her. But the punk was innocent.  He’d been set up to take the fall by some cutie who was too clever by half.  My job? Find that cutie – before the cutie found me.

An inside-job art heist goes awry in this “wildly funny” crime novel by the Edgar Award–winning author (The New York Times Book Review). It would take a miracle to keep Dortmunder out of jail. Though he cased the electronics store perfectly, the cops surprised him, turning up in the alley...

Edgar Award Finalist: A comical crime caper “filled with action and imagination” (The New York Times Book Review). John Dortmunder leaves jail with ten dollars, a train ticket, and nothing to make money on but his good name. Thankfully, his reputation goes far. No one plans a caper better...

“Merriment, mayhem and a plot that really keeps you guessing” from the Grand Master of Mystery and author of the John Dortmunder novels (Kirkus Reviews). The corpse isn’t anybody special—a low-level drug courier—but it has been so long since the organization’s last grand funeral...

This rollicking tale of an aging robber who wants to blow up a reservoir “will keep readers laughing” (Publishers Weekly). In his day, Tom was a hard man. He came up with Dillinger in the 1930s, and pulled a lot of high-profile jobs before the state put him away. They meant it to be for...

A desperate man is trying to find his partner’s killer by means of astrology, and resist as he may, ex-cop Mitch Tobin is destined to help him do it.   Disgraced ex-cop Mitch Tobin is digging in his basement when he meets Ronald Cornell. A gay man from downtown Brooklyn whose partner was...

A couple’s insurance scam could turn a faked death into a real one, in this witty crime thriller by the Edgar Award–winning author of the Dortmunder novels. After more than a decade of skipping out on their debts, Lola and Barry owe a lot of money to the wrong people. To escape the loan...

SOMETIMES WINNING FEELS AN AWFUL LOT LIKE LOSING. Cab driver Chet Conway was hoping for a good tip from his latest fare, the sort he could spend. But what he got was a tip on a horse race. Which might have turned out okay, except that when he went to collect his winnings Chet found his bookie...

At a mental institution, Mitch Tobin searches for a patient with a violent sense of humor Mitch Tobin is about to be committed. Since his abrupt dismissal from the NYPD, Tobin’s nerves have been frayed, and if it wasn’t for his work as a private detective, he might well be in need of actual...

Working night security at a museum, ex-cop Mitchell Tobin finds a naked corpse on display in this crime novel by the Edgar Award–winning author. When he first met Linda Campbell, Mitchell Tobin was nothing more to her than the man who had put her husband in jail. It took over a year for them...

When some West Village hippie kids get mixed up with the mob, the results are murder—and ex-cop Mitch Tobin tries to clean up the mess.   On the outskirts of Greenwich Village, among a wasteland of warehouses and tenements, a group of young people are opening a coffee shop. They are idealistic,...