And since I’m doing backlog catchup and have already written one Dortmunder entry, let’s go to the next installment in the slo-mo Donald E. Westlake Memorial Dortmunder Re-Read. Nobody’s Perfect is what Tiny later calls “the pitcha switch”: a wealthy wastrel enlists the gang for a spot of insurance fraud involving a painting called “Folly Leads Man to Ruin” (also something that sharp-eyed readers will spot in later books). Complications, of course, ensue, not least of which is that the wastrel has also enlisted a killer to ensure Dortmunder’s compliance . . .
This is the one with the great courtroom scene at the start, and the international trip at the end, which for no obvious reason always strikes me as somewhat more surreal than the usual conclusions of Dortmunder books. In terms of the series, this is Tiny Bulcher’s first appearance. The guys at the O.J.’s bar are now officially regulars (though meaner than my usual conception of them; ‘ware racial slurs.) Not much of May and Murch’s Mom.
Nothing major about this jumped out at me as flawed, but I still don’t think of it in the top tier of Dortmunders, and I’m not sure why. Still, it worked very well when I was in a discontent “I don’t want to read anything” mood.