Bernie Rhodenbarr, bookseller by day, burglar by night, is on the prowl again. Pretty Alice Cottrell has hired him to infiltrate the crumbling old Paddington Hotel and steal back the letters of reclusive author Gulliver Fairborn from his once-upon-a-time agent, who now wishes to sell them at auction. Seems like an easy enough job, until Bernie discovers the letters missing- and the agent dead in her bed. With the police only footsteps behind him, Bernie's got to make a fast escape or take the rap for a murder he didn't commit.

Only then does Bernie begin to wonder if he's been set up by a criminal- one who is almost as clever as he is.