Busted through sheer bad luck - does he have any other kind? - Dortmunder's going back to jail for sure, and it's only his third book into the series. Suddenly, an expensive and clever lawyer appears and gets him off, through sheer entertainment value, if noting else. Naturally, his deliverance comes with a catch - a heist organised by the victim as part of an insurance scam. Still, a pulling off a burglary where the inside man is the person you're burgling should be easy enough. But nothing is ever easy, and one riotous encounter with a theatre full of boisterous Scotsmen later, Dortmunder is faced with a missing painting, looking deadline and a contract killer hired to make sure he delivers. Fake paintings, fake robberies and a trip to Scotland follow as things, naturally, get more complicated and difficult. I think this was the very first Dortmunder I ever read (sleeping by myself in the open next to the wrong lake - long story) and it's clear to see why it hooked me from the get-go with its twists and turns, it's brilliant characters and general comic genius. The last lines are still amongst the funniest I've ever read.