Books: What's So Funny? By Donald E. Westlake (2007)

 

"All it takes is a few underhanded moves by a tough ex-cop named Eppick to pull John Dortmunder into a game he never wanted to play –but a little blackmail goes a long way. With no choice, Dortmunder musters his always-game gang and they set out on a perilous treasure hunt for a long-lost gold and jewel-studded chess set once intended as a birthday gift for the last Romanov czar, which unfortunately reached Russia after that party was over. From the moment Dortmunder reaches for his first pawn, he faces insurmountable odds. The purloined past of this precious set is destined to confound any strategy he finds on the board. Success is not inevitable with John Dortmunder leading the attack, but he's nothing if not persistent, and some gambit or other might just stumble into a winning move"

The penultimate John Dortmunder title is bit weak, but still a clever caper. It looks, seemly the longest of the series as well, and like the last book, it does get bogged down in a lot of extraneous detail. Still, as noted in the last review, it’s almost impossible for Donald E. Westlake to find anything new to say about Dortmunder & Co, so hence the extra large cast with their extra large problems. Also, unlike the last few tales, we have rich people who aren’t jerks and are even somewhat likable –even Mr. Hemlow. There is, however, two different styles of private detectives and one can get the feeling Westlake has something to say about that. And in this day and age of the BLM movement, seeing a former cop use dirty tactics to get John involved in this caper is too much on the nose. And it was interesting for me to note that if Parker, Westlake’s more violent, sociopathic thief written under the Richard Stark name, had this same dilemma, the former cop would’ve been dead by now. John abhors violence, so he goes on with this plan, but strangely, this plot thread is forgotten by the end of the book.

Overall, the book is still fun and a solid tale -the formula works only because Westlake’s underappreciated talent and sometimes sour, sarcastic view of the world amuses me. So What’s So Funny? (not sure why it’s called this) is still engaging, if not exactly off the charts John Dortmunder.