Two Much!

A ruse to bed a pair of twins quickly grows complicated.

Art doesn't mean to tell Liz Kerwin that he has a twin. He's on Fire Island, and she's so beautiful that he's willing to say anything for a chance at getting rid of her clothes. So when Liz mentions an identical twin sister, Art blurts out that he has a twin too. His name is Bart, he says, and describes the most boring man he can dream up. Liz thinks he would be perfect for her sister Betty.

When Art meets Betty -who is, of course, just as lovely as her twin -she asks about his brother. Hoping for a chance at the family fortune, Art dons a pair of glasses, slicks back his hair, and soon has "Bart" engaged to the sister. As his simple lie spins out of control, Art learns that wooing sisters is never as easy as it seems.

Review Quote:

"Under any name, Westlake was a grandmaster." - Los Angeles Times

"Donald E. Westlake writes a comic novel so well it's a wonder he bothers with crime at all." - Newsweek

"Westlake has no peer in the realm of comic mystery novelists." - San Francisco Chronicle

Biographical note:

Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008) was one of the most prolific and talented authors of American crime fiction. He began his career in the late 1950s, churning out novels for pulp houses-often writing as many as four novels a year under various pseudonyms-but soon began publishing under his own name. His most well-known characters were John Dortmunder, an unlucky thief, and a ruthless criminal named Parker. His writing earned him three Edgars and a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

Westlake's cinematic prose and brisk dialogue made his novels attractive to Hollywood, and several motion pictures were made from his books, with stars such as Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson. Westlake wrote several screenplays himself, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of The Grifters, Jim Thompson's noir classic.