A collection of stories in which a killer describes his hits. In one he kills the wrong man and has to do a repeat, in another he must decide which client to kill first, both having put out contracts on each other. As he goes about murdering, J.P. Keller, a quiet unobtrusive man, reflects on his profession.

Byrne and Susan Hollander stroll home from a concert on a fine summer's evening in New York. Some hours later, their daughter Kristin arrives home to discover her parents brutally killed and the house ransacked. She also finds she is now a very young millionaire. A few days later the police trace the two killers to an apartment in Coney Island and both are dead. One killed the other before turning the gun on himself. At least that's the way it looks....

The daytime bookseller and nighttime burglar, Bernie Rhodenbarr of New York is hired to steal a packet of letters someone wants destroyed. Instead, he finds a dead man and now he must clear his name.

When he is framed for a high-profile murder that he did not commit, contract hit man John Keller flees for his life and becomes increasingly suspicious about his handler's ominous unresponsiveness.

A writer on the verge of a breakdown, a folk art dealer exploring her sexuality, and a lawyer who prefers murder trials are all connected by an unlikely mass murder.

Bookseller and burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr travels to New England to spend a weekend in a mansion where he hopes to steal a rare book. But his scheme is sidetracked by the murder of one of the guests and the burglar turns sleuth.

While robbing an apartment, Bernie Rhodenbarr, the New York bookseller and burglar, stumbles on the trail of a treasure belonging to the deposed monarch of an Eastern European country. Problem is, others are after it too. By the author of The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams.

In Greenwich Village, Bernie Rhodenbarr, the rare book dealer who moonlights as a burglar, is arrested for murder in connection with the robbery of a valuable collection of baseball cards. Only he didn't do it. By the author of Burglars Can't Be Choosers.

The Burglar in Short Order for the first time ever collects all of Bernie's short-form appearances in one complete volume. From the story in which a prototype of Bernie first appeared ("A Bad Night For Burglars") to his appearances in Playboy and (maybe? It's kinda complicated) Cosmopolitan...from an essay discussing Bernie's misadventures in Hollywood (how in the world did Whoopi Goldberg ever get cast?) to a piece commissioned by a European publisher...

Well past retirement age and feeling his years--but still staying sober one day at a time--Matthew Scudder learns that alcoholics aren't the only ones who count the days since their last slip. Matt's longtime partner, Elaine, tells him of a group of former sex workers who do something similar, helping each other stay out of the life. But when one young woman describes an abusive client who's refusing to let her quit, Elaine encourages her to get help...