I, too, am a big Westlake fan. This book is not among his best, but it was amusing. I think you are meant to take the whole thing as a parody of the genre. The flaws were that you knew who the murderer was early on, and the ending seemed simplistic. But then again, those flaws could be intentionally part of the parody because you find them in most bad novels of the genre. ( )

Well, I'm a big fan of Westlake, and I thought I'd give this Sam Holt fellow a try. It was decent enough, but just a little too hoity toity for me. Holt is rich, good looking, and well off. He's not Parker or Grofield or even Dortmunder, the tough, gritty, sometimes hard luck fellows of his other novels. For whatever reason, that just rubbed me the wrong way. But it was a likeable read, and I would probably read the other three, though I wouldn't go seek them out. ( )

I prefer Westlake's rumpled crooks. This different series is has a very rich Mary Sue as the main character (rich, tall, handsome, smart, talented).