Drowned Hopes: A Dortmunder Mystery

Description

Dortmunder's past comes back to haunt him when he returns home after an unsuccessful burglary and finds his old cellmate sitting in his living room. He needs Dortmunder's help in retrieving $700,000 that he'd buried in a small town 30 years before. The problem is that, while he sat in jail, the State of New York flooded the area to build a reservoir; the loot is now under a few feet of dirt and many feet of water. Being a man of great determination but few ethical principles, the thief plans to blow up the dam, emptying the reservoir but also flooding the inhabited countryside to get at his stash. Dortmunder pleads with him to be allowed to retrieve the money another way. His first attempt fails. And his second. And third. Meanwhile the thief is losing patience...

Donald Westlake is a three time Edgar Award winner. The Mystery Writers of America named him a Grand Master, the highest honour bestowed by the society. Amongst his numerous awards he also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Boucheron committee and his screenplay for The Grifters won an Oscar nomination. He is known for the great ingenuity of his plots, his believable and clever characters and his lively and witty dialogue. Born in Brooklyn, he is married and has four sons.

Laughs that land on every page...the author's inventive mind never fails him - New York Times Book ReviewIt's all funny. Nobody does caper better than Westlake - Publishers Weekly