It's five stars for its mystery category but it would be four stars in the general category. This was my first " Burgler" book of the series, and now I've been picking one up steadily for the last two years. Bernie is one of the funniest idiosyncratic heroes I've ever encountered. Some of the things he says and situations he's in are uhh..priceless. The setting of the story, a little bookstore in Greenich makes it all the more fun. This is still my favorite burgler book, but that's because it's the first one I read. The funny thing was I picked this book off the shelf because the NYC skyline was on it, and after reading the backcover.. I thought it'd be good for cheap entertainment. I was sorely mistaken, it is FANTASTIC and is a hilarious twist on "mystery noir" kind of writing.