What’s So Funny? (2007) – Grand Central Publishing

A Dortmunder Heist (#13)

I seem to be spending more time with John Dortmunder than I used to, and we know what our mothers told us about bad companions. I should have posted a word or two about my latest cavort with John, What’s So Funny? in April, when it was published, but here I am spreading the news in May. He’s obviously a pernicious influence, John, and I can only recommend you let him ruin your morals as well. What’s So Funny? You’ll find the answer, I promise, inside the book. ~DEW

All it takes is a few underhanded moves by a tough ex-cop named Eppick to pull master thief John Dortmunder into a game he never wanted to play. With no choice, the crook 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, it unfortunately reached Russia after that party was over. But 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 another might just stumble into a winning move.

~ From the back cover of the 2008 Grand Central Publishing paperback edition