I honestly had no idea what to expect when I picked up To Catch a Thief. I remember watching the film when I was younger, my mom and I worked our way through a lot of Hitchcock's films, and this was so memorable because of how unbelievably lovely star Grace Kelly was. I don't actually remember much else, except not knowing who to trust in this game of thief chasing thief.
I'm actually super glad I couldn't remember the details of To Catch a Thief because it made following retired thief, John "le Chat" Robie, so much more fun. I really did not know who to trust and suspected almost everyone of being the new jewel thief. Compelled to catch this new thief so he can return to his quiet life of comfortable retirement, and so his old friends can do the same, John rallies his old gang (men who he'd been in prison with and then served together in WWII) to quietly wait for a new jewel thief to strike so they can catch him and prove John's innocence.
Although it took me a minute to adjust to Dodge's style of writing, I enjoyed the way he set his scenes. His descriptions of Monte Carlo and Cannes made me want to grab my passport and jet off tomorrow. It was honestly fun picturing the jewelry mentioned alongside the gorgeous fashion of this bygone era.
And the mystery and action were so much fun. I don't know if this counts as a thriller, but there were a couple of tense moments where the characters were hot on the trail and the action was flying by (mostly on rooftops and higher vantages) and those pages just flew by as I raced to see what would happen, how would this resolve!
This was such a pleasant surprise for me, and now I'm quite excited to start the new sequel and see what adventure John Robie finds himself in next!

A classic read and a classic book (as well a wonderful film of its time). I am so glad I was able to read this book, I loved the writing and the atmosphere he portrayed, the intrigue of his writing and the story itself and the thrills aplenty.

Such a fun read from the past, such a classic that never gets old or outdated. I loved it and now look forward to reading To Catch a Spy
by Mark O'Neill and see what happens in that one. This is a must read for sure.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I was quite delighted to see that a new edition of this classic was coming out. It's a book I've been promising to read since I fell in love with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in the movie.

David Dodge's book follows the trials of John Robie (Le Chat), an ex-thief living quietly in the south of France. However his peace is shattered when a new series of robberies begins that mimic his style exactly. The Police are coming for John Robie.

Into this frenzied atmosphere come The Stevens - mother and daughter - travelling through Europe and enjoying the casino life - well mother is. Daughter Francie is not so keen but she is interested in the mysterious Mr Burns who introduces himself one night and seems very taken by her mother's jewellery collection.

More robberies occur and the Police net begins to close. But are Francie's suspicions about Mr Burns correct? And if John Robie is not the thief then who is?

The film stays fairly close to the book but I have to say I much preferred the ending of the film to the book. Read the book, watch the film and you decide.

Thankyou to Netgalley for the advance review copy. Most appreciated.

David Dodge's first stand-alone mystery thriller, To Catch a Thief was a career high point, especially as it was optioned by Alfred Hitchcock even before publication. To Catch a Thief is centered on John Robie, an wealthy American expatriate living the life of a country gentleman. Our story begins, in 1951, at his villa where police are coming to arrest him due to his prior 1930s career as 'the cat' a highly disciplined and athletic jewel burglar. It seems someone has been stealing jewels in the Riviera just as Robie used to. Has he truly reformed? If it wasn't him, how can he prove his innocence and catch the true thief? The story unfolds as Robie disguises himself to both hide from the police and to catch the thief in the act.

To Catch a Thief is the latest in the Library of Congress's collaboration with the Poisoned Pen Press, the Crime Classics series. The goal is to "feature some of the finest American crime writing from the 1860s to the 1960s... scarce or lesser known titles that represent a range of genres, from "cozies" to police procedurals."* Alongside the original text, their is a contextual introduction, author biography, notes, further reading suggestions and possible discussion questions.

Many of the books in the series, are objects of their time and language and attitudes change. To Catch a Thief is linked to the 1955 movie edition, but is a clever game of cat and mouse and unexpected romance.

Recommended to readers of fast paced thrillers, post ww2 France, or undercover mysteries.

*“Crime Classics (Catalog of Publications, The General Publishing Program at the Library of Congress.” Webpage. Accessed April 8, 2025. https://maint.loc.gov/publish/general....

Full review: https://www.mwgerard.com/wheel-spins-catch-thief/

The film version of To Catch A Thief is known for its sophisticated Riviera scenery, stylish costumes, and a suave but mysterious cat burglar (who may or may not be Cary Grant). It is also how Grace Kelly met Prince Rainier of Monaco, her eventual husband.

John Robie is a retired jewel thief. He’d been caught and jailed before war broke out, but he was released from prison on the eve of the German invasion. Robie joined the French Resistance and after the war law enforcement chose to look the other way. He now lives quietly, on the right side of the law, in a cliffside villa. All is well until a jewel thief begins striking wealthy Riviera tourists using his typical M.O. It becomes clear the thief is a copycat, hoping to get Robie arrested. He is forced underground, with the help of his Resistance friends, while he tries to catch the burglar before the police catch up with him.

"It was the kind of a night that LeChat had always liked best; darkness, moving shadows to hide another moving shadow, a rush of wind and the scrape of of rubbing branches to hide small noises. There was a charged, electric feeling in the air." ~Loc. 2581

This film adaptation is fairly faithful to the book although there are some lovely details that are cut. Most notably, Robie disguises himself as a frumpy, potbellied, clueless American (but with the character being played by Cary Grant, can you blame Hitch for not wanting to hide his actor under an ill-fitting suit?). He is undercover while he mixes with the potential marks in hopes he can stop The Cat before he strikes again. The book is a rollicking, fast-moving adventure and is must-read for any Hitchcock fan.

My thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for the review copy. Read via NetGalley.

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (April 1, 2025)
Language: English
Paperback: 256 pages
ISBN-10: ‎1464225346

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 that’s where I’m headed next. 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...

To catch a thief follows the story of a once famous retired jewel thief. Due to recent events he’s once again on the map. With the help of his best friend his goal is to unveil the true mastermind behind the most recent events.
Typically for me these types of books are better in movies like The Thomas Crown Affair. I’ve never seen this movie so I figured I’d try the book. I felt it lacked some depth and it was slow moving at times which can be tricky to get through. Overall it was entertaining but ok.

To Catch Thief is a must read for all lovers of glamorous locations, beautiful sceneries and a good old jewelry heist.

John Robie was known as the greatest jewelery thief in the world. However, he is now reformed  and lives a quiet quaint life. But when a copycat appears who follows Robie's style and signature it is up to him to either flee the country for fear of repercussions or set up a trap to catch this copycat.

I watched the movie based on this book when I was a teenager and even now many, many years after that I still remember Cary Grant and Grace Kelly (what a beautiful couple!) and their adventures. The books is even better than the movie as it's richer in the descriptions of feelings, places, people, characters' thoughts and struggles and all the action happens at a time when suspicions regarding people's affiliations were at a high level because of the recently ended war. Very well written, with enough mystery and action to catch the reader's attention from the beginning, it's very entertaining and a classic! Highly recommended.
I thank the author's estate, their publisher, and NetGalley for the copy of this book.

Headline: A delightful must-read!

Book Review: To Catch A Thief by David Dodge
(Library of Congress Crime Classics, originally published by Random House as a novel in 1952)
Published by Poisoned Pen Press, April 1, 2025

★★★★★ (5/5 Stars, Rave!)

Foreword. Carla Diane Hayden, appointed in 2016 as the 14th librarian of Congress, provides a brief insight into the evolution of crime writing, citing the world's first wholly fictional detective, E. A. Poe's C. Auguste Dupin, first published in 1841.

Introduction. Noted literary editor, Leslie S. Klinger, pens a scintillating piece on the publication and aftermath of David Dodge's eight novel.

Vive le Chat!

// To Catch A Thief by David Dodge (1952) //

The French Riviera, also known as "le Côte d'Azur"
France

Late 1930s. A daring, supremely athletic burglar specializing in jewel thefts menaces the rich in hotels and villas. In 1939, American John Robie, aka "Le Chat" (the cat) was caught and sent to prison.

1940. Robie, the accidental freedom fighter. The Germans invade France and release many convicts from French prisons. Unwittingly perhaps, as Robie and many other convicts refuse to serve as German forced laborers and instead join the "Maquis", The French Resistance.

After the war there was an unofficial amnesty for those released convicts who had been maquisards, on the condition that they refrain from new crimes.

Vence, France. John Robie accordingly lives a quiet life, and ensconces himself in a charming, historic Provençal town in the hills overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

1951. A new wave of jewel thievery, exactly in the style of "Le Chat", suddenly proliferates. Immediate suspicion falls on Robie, also implicating his former comrades-in-arms, the "maquisards", now longtime friends.

To get "le flic" (French slang for cops) off their backs, instead of escaping to back to the USA, Robie is persuaded by his former comrades to stay and try to "catch the thief", with their cooperation.

Enter Jack Burns, described as a pudgy, middle-aged vacationing American businessman.

Enter the Francie Stevens (changed to Frances in the movie), flamboyant heiress to diamonds, sapphires and oil wells.

Lastly, enter the new "Le Chat"...!

-------

// Faites vos jeux! Faites vos jeux!
Rien ne va plus! //

In 1955, none other than Alfred Hitchcock made the novel into a film starring superstars, Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. Among many scenes, the "master of suspense" captures the boisterous, vibrant ambience in casinos and the Riviera itself, and those breathtaking views from the hills of Provençal overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. He slightly changes the book's ending, perhaps to capitalize on the chemistry between Grant and Kelly.

On January 8, 2011, the novel was dramatized as a "Saturday Play", broadcasted on BBC Radio 4. This version can be viewed in a popular streaming site.

"To Catch a Thief" was first published by Random House in 1952. It is now in the public domain. A .pdf version of a hard copy of the book complete with book cover (Penguin 1955) can be visualized online.

Quite simply, a delightful must-read!

Review based on an advance review copy courtesy of Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley.

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press for access to this arc.

I’ve watched Alfred Hitchcock’s movie adaptation but thought it might be fun to check out the book upon which that was based. I’ll go ahead and warn readers that there are changes from the book, mainly in the character of Francie, and that the book is more mystery than romance. Still, I had fun reading it and recommend it for what it is, which is a period crime thriller.

The movie is true to most of the book but the book focuses more on the crime thriller part rather than the romance. Francie is a bit of an odd, flat character and initially doesn’t show well. Her mother is much more entertaining as a woman who’s grown up poor, came into wealth (seventeen oil wells in Texas) and now intends to spend her life enjoying herself. It’s only later that Francie comes to life and begins to tightly twist John around her finger. Even then, the truth of her feelings must be pointed out to John with a clue-by-four before he wakes up and smells the coffee.

But read the book for what it is. The location and era are beautifully conveyed without going overboard. What I skim over in the movie, why John must clear his name, is elaborated on. John was in prison when the Germans invaded France in WWII and along with most of the other French convicts, he was released. Big mistake by the Germans.

These men formed a criminal “band of brothers” who were allowed to walk free after the war although they were not officially pardoned nor were their sentences commuted. The police are now putting pressure on these men still in the area and will yank them all back to prison if John isn’t captured. John could have escaped but chooses to stay, cleverly hiding in plain sight, to find the real thief.

Much of the story focuses on John and these men and the wonderful character of Bellini who runs a criminal enterprise along with several legit businesses. If you want something or to get something done, contact Bellini.

“To Catch a Thief” spins out slowly as John methodically plots out how to do just that. The jewel heists might be flashy but much as when he was actually in the biz, it’s the preparation that is key. This is interesting to read but I can see why Hitchcock cuts it as spending all night casing a villa isn’t exactly wowing. Another thing that is altered is John Robie’s moral view of life. As he tells someone, he’s not reformed, he’s just retired. He’d got what he wanted from his thefts – money enough to live on – and so he didn’t go back to it after the war. At the end of the story, we’ll see how this alters what is in the movie vs what is in the book.

The book is brisk, despite a lot of exposition, and well plotted. The characters are often sketches but done so well that all we need in order to know them is given. As the police net is pulled tighter, we’ll see John think his way out and in such a way that his enemies know something is off but because of their own actions, they’ll be shown up if they give the game away. Read it for the time and place and John’s clever thinking. B+

To Catch A Thief by David Dodge was a great mystery read with vintage flair, as this book was originally written in 1952. The book starts off with action right away, as John Robie flees from his villa in the countryside of France from the agents de police by escaping from a window, jumping from balcony to an olive tree, and over the garden wall through a vineyard. The whole description of this scene is very exciting. I had a wonderful time imaging this all play out. You see, John Robie is known as “Le Chat” a notorious jewel thief, only this period in his life he is done with stealing and trying to live a quiet life. However there is a copy cat thief, so the agents believe Le Chat is back at it and are trying to arrest him. Robie does not want to go back to prison, so he is determined to find this copy cat before the agents find him. This book takes place in the French Riviera so there is a lot of glamorous imagery among the characters who visit the beaches, poolside and casino. I enjoyed trying to figure out who the copycat was, and didn’t figure it out until the end when it was revealed. This is a classic read worth reading if you are a fan of old school glamour and mystery.

This book was later turned into a movie by Alfred Hitchcock starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. I decided to watch the movie after to compare. The beginning was done completely different, and instead of fleeing mysteriously into the night like he did in the book, Cary Grant hops in a car with the agents watching during the day. I thought the book version was so much better for the escape. Also in the book John Robie wears a disguise the whole time. He makes himself look older and has a stuffed belly. The agents are looking for a younger man in the book, but in the movie he doesn’t disguise himself at all. Romance is also heavily suggested in the movie which we only get a little bit at the very end of the book.

Although this book is old, a new version is being released on April 1st by the Library of Congress Crime Classics which includes footnotes at the end of each chapter including French translations. I highly recommend reading the book and then watching the movie after, so you can see the differences in both.

Special thanks to Sourcebooks Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for this gifted advance reader copy.

One of my greatest regrets in being a voracious reader (to a tune, on average, of over 300 books a year) is that I don’t often find time to watch movies, at least not for their own sakes. So when I learned that Poisoned Pen Press is reissuing David Dodge’s To Catch A Thief, simultaneously with publishing a brand new authorized sequel, I knew I had a unique chance to dive into two classics of crime media.

And the novel and movie of the same name are very much two separate entities, in my opinion. While Alfred Hitchcock works from the basis of Mr Dodge’s bestseller, his interpretation of the story feels less like adaptation than homage, and not just because the plot of the film differs from the book on several key points. The tone, most of all, is quite altered. Whereas the novel’s gentleman thief turned crook catcher is already world-weary at the ripe old age of 34, the protagonist of Mr Hitchcock’s film, as played by the debonair Cary Grant at the age of 50, feels far more comfortably middle-aged. While both properties are filled with romance and glamour, these aspects are underpinned in the book by the desperation of small rooms and shady dealings. The movie, in contrast, embraces wide open vistas, helped along by a gorgeous and often witty cinematography that only further broadens the streak of humor in the proceedings.

The shared proceedings are as such: American John Robie was once a jewelry thief known as Le Chat. He prowled the French Riviera, making away with millions of francs and embarrassing the authorities, until he was caught due to an untrustworthy fence. Sentenced to decades in prison, he was freed during World War II by German troops hoping to create havoc in the local populace by turning out the criminal element into their midst. Little did the Nazis realize that these felons would quickly join up with the rebels of the Maquis, putting their less than savory skills to work for the cause of freedom.

With the war over, John and his fellow prisoners – heroes of the Resistance all – were given their parole. John retired to his countryside villa, where he lived happily and quietly… until a cat burglar with a disturbingly similar modus operandi to his previous illegal activities begins stealing the jewels of the rich and famous. Knowing that the police have him in their sights, John escapes their initial pursuit and goes undercover on the coast, teaming up with his former Maquis compatriots to smoke out the real thief before they’re all picked up on suspicion of conspiracy and thrown back in jail.

While in Cannes, John falls in with the wealthy American widow Mrs Stevens and her preternaturally calm daughter Francie. While Mrs Stevens enjoys flaunting her riches with the jewels she drapes all over herself, Francie has far simpler tastes, as well as a keener eye for men who might be seeking to swindle her mother. John, in fact, has no more nefarious intent than to use Mrs Stevens as bait, and so humors Francie’s increasingly outlandish suggestions… until the jewelry thief strikes again, shaking Francie’s confidence in him and leaving him with even fewer allies and options, as the police unrelentingly close in.

Tone aside, the novel and film differ most in their endings, no doubt due to the influence of the strict Hayes Code that determined what aspects of criminality, among other things, could be depicted on-screen. This need to cut the novel’s ethically ambiguous fates for its characters gave Mr Hitchcock the opportunity for the more pleasantly rom-com conclusion he assigns to John and Francie, played here by a poised beyond her years Grace Kelly. The deeply satisfying culmination of the fizzy glamour of the movie thus steps away from the morally grey pensiveness of the book. The film further dazzles the viewer with the sights of the Riviera and with Edith Head’s incomparable costumes, particularly at the gala where the climax of both film and novel take place. It’s a glorious and sexy interpretation of the story, even if it ultimately loses just that much in substance for deliberately choosing to alter the novel’s more thoughtful plot.

Personally, I preferred the novel’s acceptance of John’s malleable morality, though I was a little taken aback by the sheer number of endnotes wedged into this latest edition, which is part of the Library Of Congress Crime Classics series. While the annotations regarding the problematic aspects of the book were certainly welcome, others felt more like the work of an academic desperate to show that they’ve done the research on the time and place. Does the average reader really need an endnote further explaining, for example, who Van Cleef & Arpels is in a sentence that has already stated that they craft expensive bespoke jewelry for royalty? Is it worth breaking the reader’s concentration with an endnote next to the word bouillabaisse, describing it as a popular French fish stew? (The word ragout, meanwhile, gets no such consideration, despite appearing in the text one time more than bouillabaisse, adding inconsistency to the annotations’ flaws.) While certainly well-intended, these shorter explanations would have been far less intrusive to the narrative flow in the form of a glossary.

Bewildering overuse of endnotes aside, I very much enjoyed this book, and am glad it’s coming back to print in conjunction with Mark O’Neill’s intriguing sequel, To Catch A Spy. Look out for my review of that here soon, too!

"It takes a thief...

"Le Chat" ("The Cat"), an infamous thief, has come out of retirement and is again liberating expensive jewelry from wealthy tourists on the Frerch Riviera. Or is it a "copycat" who is stealing fortunes?

John Robie thought he had left his larcenous past behind. Once responsible for a string of daring thefts and escapes, he was caught and sent to prison just before the outbreak of World War II. Freed during the German occupation of France, Robie joined the French Resistance and received unofficial amnesty after the war ended. He retired to a simple life in the country where he befriended the local commissaire, Oriol, and tended his gardens. Now it's 1951, and someone has been at work using his old MO. When the police come to arrest him, Robie escapes to Cannes. There, he reconnects with his former comrade Bellini, who convinces Robie to help catch the copycat.

Disguised as a pudgy, middle-aged American businessman, Robie scouts the local nightclubs and casinos and tries to outthink the new thief. When he meets Francie Stevens, the daughter of a wealthy tourist, she becomes Robie's unwelcome ally, and together they hatch a dangerous plan to catch the thief at a gala party. But soon they both realize that Robie really is a thief at heart. With Oriol and the police on his trail, will he escape capture? Will the real thief be caught? And will Robie give up the thief?"

A perfectly timed reissue because...

The rerelease of this classic thriller does not disappoint, many may know the story from the Hitchcock film starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, itself a classic, but the original is well worth reading.
It seems the notorious jewel thief Le Chat is back stealing the jewels of the rich and famous along the French Riviera, but is he, the real Le Chat, an American by the name of John Robbie knows that he is not, he retired, but as everyone thinks it is him, he has to stop the imposter.
Well written and full of suspense a delight to read.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for for the arc.

"To Catch a Thief" embodies pleasure reading: good writing, a mystery to solve, and a compelling location. Having traveled to the area recently made it even more delightful because the imagery was even more vivid. It was elegant and relaxing, yet it kept me wanting to turn page after page to find out what would happen next.

The cast of characters and the descriptions of the scenery were some of my favorite parts. I basked in the sunshine of the author’s words as if I were basking in the beautiful setting of the French Riviera.

It also inspired me to watch the film again.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC.

I didn’t know exactly what to expect going into this one, but I was thoroughly impressed—it’s a classic thriller done right! To Catch a Thief is both clever and suspenseful, holding up even by today’s standards. While I haven’t seen the Hitchcock film adaptation, I’ve read numerous reviews claiming the book surpasses the movie, and I wholeheartedly agree.

With the 70th anniversary of its release just around the corner, Poisoned Pen Press is reissuing this classic, and I highly recommend picking it up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing a copy in exchange for my honest review.

To Catch a Thief is a thoroughly enticing and enthralling novel which was impossible to stop reading it until the end came. Cleverly written with doses of wit and charm, the golden age mystery novel gripped my mind and made my heart sing. It was originally published in 1952 and has withstood time well. The characters are fascinating, quirky and fun to follow as they connive and try to avoid detection. The French Riviera makes a splendidly atmospheric setting for jewel theft of unsuspecting wealthy tourists.

Aptly named Le Chat (The Cat) was a notorious thief, mentally and physically acrobatic, one you want to inwardly cheer on. There's just something daring and adventurous about heists. American John Robie retired to the peaceful French countryside, a far cry from his previous life of theft, stint in prison, and the French Resistance during World War II. His practiced and bright mind knows exactly how a thief thinks so when valuables start to go missing in his old style, he itches to find the culprit. Only a few people would recognize him now (especially Oriol) and he continues to live looking over his shoulder. Amongst others, he meets Francie who is the daughter of a gambler tourist, quick and resourceful. He occasionally reports in to his comrade Bellini who knows his merits and history. I really like how this story ended, too.

I have read so few of Dodge's books but would love to read as many as I can find. My sincere thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me a digital copy.

A re-release of the 1951 classic that became a movie starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. The mysterious jewel thief known as Le Chat (the Cat) has returned to the Riviera. The only problem is that the real Le Chat, American John Robie, knows this one is a copycat.

Robie is living quietly and comfortably in the area, having left behind his life of crime, when news of daring jewel heists reach him. With the authorities searching for him anew, Robie must go on the run, straight to the heart of the crimes: the hotels, casinos, and beaches where the Cat is operating, to lay a trap for the imposter, before the police catch Robie and charge him with crimes he did not commit.

Dodge’s characters are engaging. His prose is beautiful. And the plot is full of twists. This edition includes notes, which you could ignore, but you would be missing out. They definitely make the story much more approachable for a 21st century reader.

Often, returning to books and movies that we remember affectionately can reveal changing expectations in what is acceptable behavior. In many ways Dodge’s book holds up well. The women in this story have just as much agency as the men, and they are richer characters for it. Moreover, while it would never be labeled a “propulsive, action-packed thriller,” the pace is sufficiently quick. I enjoyed the sweeping descriptions of the Riviera and the wealthy who frequented the area. And I had forgotten the twist at the end, which I found very satisfying.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read an advance review copy.

Finished Reading

Pre-Read notes

I was offered this book and it's partner, To Catch a Spy, from the publisher. I've never read anything by Dodge, but I love the classic film made from To Catch a Thief. So it seemed like a good fit!

Final Review to come

“I am always confident of my friends. I find that loyalty repays loyalty.” (1:01:25)

Review summary and recommendations

Was offered a free copy of this book, a wonderful, gritty romance about a thief and their mark, only neither of them know which is which. It's a captivating blend of romance and crime thriller elements.

Beautiful setting work here that feels old but not anachronistic. Paris is truly Francie's city, if not her wealthy mother's.

Speaking of Francie, she is a contemporary woman's woman, strong and driven and smart, and completely likeable. She was part of the reason I gound the book so compelling, since she was written by a man in 1952. I really enjoyed this bit of character work.

I recommend this one to fans of both romantic suspense and crime novels. Dodge writes in a more contemporary style, so this doesn't feel like historical fiction. Readers who like strong, smart female characters, and "honor amongst thieves" type of bad guys.

I agree that... it was my own man who betrayed us.” He chuckled. “Honor among thieves is not what it used to be. p108

Reading Notes

Three things I loved:

1. It was early evening, not yet full night. A shadow was out of place against the wall at the back of the garden, just inside the gate. He could not be mistaken. He knew every shrub in the garden. Except for the olive trees that were there when he started, he had planted everything himself, down to the endive and the leeks and the fines herbes in the vegetable patch. He had not planted a shadow by the gate. p1 A very interesting introduction to the mmc.

2. I adore the first four chapters of this story. It's such a fantastic setup. The style reminds me of contemporary police procedurals, which is to say it is wonderful entertainment, albeit a bit dry.

3. The dynamic between the characters is charming! “I’d like to know what’s going on between you two,” Mrs. Stevens said shrewdly. “You’ve been cooking something for a couple of days now. You aren’t planning to elope, I hope.” Francie blushed. John said, “We haven’t got that far yet. We’re cooking up a scheme to win you a lucky dog.” p166

One thing I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. The book reads a little like a nonfiction history text – a bit dry and in love with itself. Too much summary, not enough description.

Rating: 💎💎💎💎 /5 family jewels
Recommend? yes
Finished: Feb 26 '25
Format: accessible digital arc, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
💍 heist stories
👥️ complicated characters
🗼 Paris
🪭 strong heroines
🩶 morally grey characters

Thank you to the author David Dodge, publishers Diversion Books, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of TO CATCH A THIEF. All views are mine.
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