Bernie Rhodenbarr Books in Order
The Bernie Rhodenbarr books in order are 12 books by Lawrence Block, published 1977 to 1981. Start with Burglars Can't Be Choosers (1977).
- Books
- 6
- Numbers
- 1 to 3
- Published
- 1977 to 1981
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Reading order
The Bernie Rhodenbarr books in the order to read them, with the year each first appeared.
- 1Burglars Can't Be Choosers1977
- 2The Burglar in the Closet1978
- 3The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling1979
- 4The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza1980
- 5The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian1983
- 6The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams1994
- 7The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart1995
- 8The Burglar in the Library1997
- 9The Burglar in the Rye1999
- 10The Burglar on the Prowl2004
- 11The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons2013
- 12The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown2022
Editions we track
| No. | Cover | Book | Year | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burglars Can't Be Choosers First | 1977 | – | |
| 2 | The Burglar in the Closet First | 1978 | – | |
| 3 | The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling First | 1979 | – |
About Bernie Rhodenbarr
The Bernie Rhodenbarr series is Lawrence Block's run of comic crime novels about a New York burglar with a talent for picking locks, who from the third book also runs Barnegat Books, a second-hand bookshop in Greenwich Village. Twelve novels appeared between 1977 and 2022, starting with Burglars Can't Be Choosers, first published in hardback by Random House in 1977, and ending with The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown. After the fifth book in 1983 there was an eleven-year gap before The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams in 1994. The second novel, The Burglar in the Closet, was adapted as the film Burglar, with Whoopi Goldberg playing a renamed female lead, Bernice.
Frequently asked questions
What order should I read the Bernie Rhodenbarr books in?
Start with Burglars Can't Be Choosers (1977), then The Burglar in the Closet and The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling. The full list on this page gives every book in order with its first edition year.
How many Bernie Rhodenbarr books are there?
We list 12 books in the Bernie Rhodenbarr series, from 1977 to 2022.
What is the first Bernie Rhodenbarr book?
Burglars Can't Be Choosers, first published in 1977, is the first book in the Bernie Rhodenbarr series.
Where these facts come from
- Bernie Rhodenbarr, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- Burglars Can't Be Choosers, FictionDB (fictiondb.com)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 21 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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