Well, that was quick! Finished Lawrence Block's first Bernie Roddenbahr burglar book,
Burglars Can't Be Choosers from 1977. It's quite a hoot!
Handsome, mid-30s, professional burglar Bernie thinks he's on a "routine" unlock and entry, looking for a blue leather box in an antique rolltop desk. Dismayed that the box is missing, he's more dismayed when the cops arrive and arrest him; he's even more dismayed to discover there is a corpse in the other room and he's now considered the murderer. By chance, the arresting cop is an "old buddy" and Bernie manages to make a getaway. Enter a cast of characters as Bernie tries to "clear his good name", of the murder charge at least, including a couple of love interests and a few eccentric theatre people.
I did find the solution a tad conventional, but there were lots of laughs throughout as the story is told in the first person as the twists and turns present themselves to our hero. Available from for abt $8 from
Kobo,
Kindle and with luck your local
Overdrive e-library.