To Catch a Thief by David Dodge is out in reprint – a review

A classic adventure tale, later a Hitchcock movie…

Several months ago, I got a chance to read The Lady Vanishes, which, in its original incarnation, The Wheel Spins, was the inspiration for an Alfred Hitchcock film.   I am usually not a big movie fan, especially suspenseful movies, but I surprised myself by really liking that book.   So when I got a chance to read a coming e-reprint of To Catch a Thief, by David Dodge, which almost 20 years later also served as the source for a Hitchcock film, I jumped on it.   And it too was great!

To Catch a Thief is quite different in style and tone, not a psychological thriller like The Wheel Spins, but with plenty of action, and a bit of moral ambiguity to keep things interesting.    John Robie is a famous jewel thief, “Le Chat”, who terrorized/thrilled the Riviera with his dashing but non-violent heists, before being caught in Paris.    His stay in a French jail was cut short, however, when World War II intervened, and the Germans, seeking to cause havoc, released the prisoners.   Which backfired, as Dodge explains:   “All the murderers [who were] Frenchmen first and cutthroats only incidentally, went into the maquis, and began practicing their trade on German soldiers”.    And Robie, although not French himself, went into the Resistance with them.  So, when, after the war, an unofficial “parole” was extended to the former inmates, provided they didn’t commit any more crimes, he decided to retire.

As the book opens, however, someone has put Robie’s retirement at risk, committing a series of thefts with all of the athleticism, hints of omniscience, and flair for the impossible that seemingly only Le Chat could pull off.   The gendarmes think Robie has broken the terms of his tenuous pardon, and he decides to flee, but is persuaded by his fellow maquisards instead to stay and try to catch the culprit himself.    Of course, there is a girl, albeit with less romance than might be expected.     And lots of action.   And finally, after many twists and turns, some expected and some not, there is also a satisfying denouement.  Satisfying, at least, to everyone except Robie’s nemesis, Commissaire Lepic.

I’m a sucker for mysteries set in France, and this one felt like a classic, reminding me a lot of one of my favorite series, Marvin Albert’s Stone-Angel series, which I now feel like rereading.  But that reread will have to wait, because Poisoned Pen Press, who are behind this e-reprint, have also recently published a Dodge-estate-approved sequel, To Catch a Spy, by Mark Oneill, so watch for my review of that soon, here on my blog.   And finally, my thanks to the aforementioned Poisoned Pen Press, and to NetGalley for the review copy!

Oh, and I love the cover…if I hadn’t already given it 5 stars, the cover would be worth an extra half…

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