Books like 'Why Me?'
Readers who enjoyed Why Me? by Donald E. Westlake also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
mystery comedy action / adventure humor crime heist noir
-
Angels in the Moonlight by Caimh McDonnell
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFor Detective Bunny McGarry, life is complicated, and it is about to get more so.It’s 1999 and his hard won reputation amongst Dublin’s criminal fraternity, for being a massive pain the backside, is unfortunately shared by his bosses. His partner has a career-threatening gambling problem and, oh yeah, Bunny's finally been given a crack at the big time... -
Dead Man's Sins by Caimh McDonnell
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHow far would you go to protect a dead man?It’s the year 2000 in Dublin and, following some traumatic events, Detective Bunny McGarry is taking a well-earned break from the force. However, just because you’re not looking for trouble doesn’t mean trouble isn’t looking for you... -
Lucky Ride by Deborah Coonts
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWho would want to kill a clown? Lucky O’Toole, chief problem solver for the Babylon Hotel, the primo property on the Las Vegas Strip, isn’t in any mood to find out. For one, it’s New Year’s Day and Lucky’s birthday. And she hasn’t caught her breath after a chase to the death in Hong Kong and Macau. Her French chef is pushing to set the wedding date... -
The Sacred Art of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLet us prey …The press tend to talk about bank robberies as being daring, ingenious and audacious. They don’t describe many as Dadaist, even the ones who know what ‘Dadaist’ means... -
-
The Family Jewels by Caimh McDonnell
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBah Humbug!It’s almost Christmas and Bunny McGarry is not in the festive spirit. His mood is not improved when an old friend becomes the victim of a violent assault and, for reasons he can’t understand, the police force he is a member of has decided not to investigate. Getting to the bottom of the case ends up putting him on the wrong side of some powerful people... -
The Day That Never Comes by Caimh McDonnell
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRemember those people that destroyed the economy and then cruised off on their yachts? Well guess what – someone is killing them. Dublin is in the middle of a heat wave and tempers are running high... -
Bend the Rules by Susan Amanda Kelly
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAccountant-extraordinaire Mary Holmes is determined to make the most of her second chance... a job with Vitruvius Security. Then, her boss hires a specialist, Crash Coolidge, to work undercover to smash a truck-cargo heist gang. Mary is horrified to discover that the sexy, insolent new-hire is a criminal who is scarily relaxed about the prospect of killing people... -
Lucky Double: A Two-Book Lucky Bundle by Deborah Coonts
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA TWO-BOOK LUCKY STARTER SET! Book One: Wanna Get Lucky? AND Book Two: Lucky Stiff Haven’t met Lucky yet? Here’s your chance! EVERYONE HAS A HIDDEN TALENT For Lucky O’Toole it’s murder…solving it. Surviving in Sin City takes cunning, a pair of five-inch heels, and a wiseass attitude. Lucky has mastered them all and has a pair of legs she uses to kick butt and turn heads... -
All Fun and Games Until Somebody Loses an Eye by Christopher Brookmyre
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJane Fleming, forty-six and three years a grandmother, has always played by the rules, never hurt anybody, never lied, never even had a parking ticket. But she’s about to put all that right in a very big way…Intrigue. Espionage. Advanced technology. Clinical violence. Hoovering.It’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye... -
Lucky Break by Deborah Coonts
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWith Christmas a few days away, Lucky O’Toole, Vice President of Customer Relations for the Babylon, Las Vegas’s premier Strip casino resort, is in a festive mood. The upcoming wedding of her assistant to the Beautiful Jeremy Whitlock and her own engagement to her delish French Chef, Jean-Charles Bouclet have Lucky in full holiday cheer.And even bigger celebrations are afoot... -
Lucky the Hard Way by Deborah Coonts
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAs Christmases go, this one is proving a bit taxing for Lucky O’Toole, Vice President of Customer Relations for the Babylon, Las Vegas’ most over-the-top Strip resort casino.While facing a murder indictment, Teddie, Lucky’s former lover, has fled to Macau hot on the heels of the man everyone thinks is the real murderer, Irv Gittings... -
The Case of the Damaged Detective by Drew Hayes
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsA mystery/road trip/buddy comedy/action adventure from the author of Second Hand Curses. A dance club full of bodies. Cause of death - a mystery. The lone survivor - a man, raving like a lunatic, wearing only a deerstalker hat. Now, the man who calls himself Sherman Holmes is being studied like a lab rat by a top-secret government agency... -
Cadillac Beach: A Novel by Tim Dorsey
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAnd busting out of Chattahoochee State Hospital ... without his meds! The thrill-killing Floridaphile needs to get to the bottom of his bookie grandad's bizarre 1964 death -- not to mention launch "Serge & Lenny's Florida Experience," the new Miami specialty tour venture he's cooked up with his best brain-dead druggie-buddy. It's all good. For Serge A. Storms, anyway... -
One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night by Christopher Brookmyre
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe occasion: high school reunion.The place: an oil rig converted into a tourist resort.The outcome: carnage.Gavin is creating a unique ‘holiday experience’; every facility any tourist who hates abroad will ever want will all be available on a converted North Sea oil rig... -
-
When Did You See Her Last? by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsI should have asked the question "How could someone who was missing be in two places at once?" Instead, I asked the wrong question -- four wrong questions, more or less. This is the account of the second.In the fading town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea, young apprentice Lemony Snicket has a new case to solve when he and his chaperone are hired to find a missing girl... -
House of Shards by Walter Jon Williams
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsDrake Maijstral, the most daring Allowed Burglar in the galaxy, is now setting his sights on the Eltdown Shard, a spectacular necklace embodying the flame of a dying star. Through the media vids, the audience watches him--in an intricate plot designed to both steal the necklace and foil his major rival... -
Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Secret of the Grande Chateau by Cecil H.H. Mills
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTHE FIRST OFFICIAL NOVEL FROM GAME GRUMPSListen up, kid. My name is Dr. Cecil H.H. Mills. I’m the author of this book and many other ones that you might not have heard of. This book is about two idiot wannabe detective-types. Their names are J.J. and Valentine Watts, but I’m not sure if they’re actually brothers or not. They make a friend; her name is Trudi de la Rosa... -
The Henchmen's Book Club by Danny King
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMark Jones is a henchman for hire. He guards bunkers, patrols perimeters and stands around in a boiler suit waiting to get knocked out by Ninjas. This is his job... -
Drowned Hopes by Donald E. Westlake
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJohn Dortmunder, anti-hero of such comic crime classics as The Hot Rock and Good Behavior , returns home at dawn after another failed burglary. He is horrified to find his apartment occupied by an old cellmate everyone supposed (and hoped) had been locked up for life. Tom Jinson needs Dortmunder's help. Nearly thirty years ago, before his last prison stretch, Tom pulled a big job up near Albany... -
What's The Worst That Could Happen? by Donald E. Westlake
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDortmunder is in the midst of a routine burglary of a Long Island mansion when who shows up toting a gun but the owner, nasty billionaire Max Fairbanks. Worse, Fairbanks takes Dortmunder's supposedly lucky ring. Highly insulted, Dortmunder and his gang execute their own peculiar reign of terror, and although they acquire quite a bit of Fairbanks' swag, they never quite get the ring back... -
I Know What You Did Last Wednesday by Anthony Horowitz, Nickolas Grace
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen the Diamond Brothers receive an invitation to a school reunion on a remote Scottish island, things seem to be looking up. But Nick’s got a bad feeling, and it’s not indigestion... -
Be My Enemy by Christopher Brookmyre
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt was a junket, a freebie. A 'team-building' weekend in the highlands for lawyers, advertising execs, businessmen, even the head of a charity. Oh, and a journalist, specially solicited for his renowned and voluble scepticism - Jack Parlabane... -
مردی با چهره آشنا by Caimh McDonnell
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe First time somebody tried to kill him was an accident.The second time was deliberate.Now Paul Muchrone finds himself on the run with nobody to turn to except a nurse who has read one-too-many crime novels and a renegade copper with a penchant for violence. Together they must solve one of the most notorious crimes in Irish history……or else they’ll be history... -
The Scam by Janet Evanovich, Lee Goldberg
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNEW YORK TIMES "BESTSELLER Nicolas Fox is a charming con man and master thief on the run. Kate O Hare is the FBI agent who is hot on his trail. At least that s what everyone thinks. In reality, Fox and O Hare are secretly working together to bring down super-criminals the law can t touch. Criminals like brutal casino magnate Evan Trace... -
-
A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away by Christopher Brookmyre
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBack when they were students, just like everybody else, Ray Ash and Simon Darcourt had dreams about what they'd do when they grew up. In both their cases, it was to be rock stars. Fifteen years later, their mid-thirties are bearing down fast, and just like everybody else, they're having to accept the less glamorous hands reality has dealt them... -
South by Southeast by Anthony Horowitz
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt looks like Tim, the world’s worst private detective, and Nick, his brainy kid brother, are in trouble again. They’re dead broke. But money is the least of their worries when a mysterious man bursts into their office and offers Tim a wad of cash for his coat. Minutes later, the stranger is dead and Nick and Tim are left to puzzle over his final words... -
Bank Shot by Donald E. Westlake
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen John Dortmunder sets out to rob a bank, he really means it. He steals the whole thing. With the help of his usual crew, as well as a sophomoric ex-FBI man and a militant safecracker, Dortmunder puts a set of wheels under a trailer that just happens to be the temporary site of the Capitalists' & Immigrants' Trust Corp... -
Rumble Tumble by Joe R. Lansdale
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHap Collins and Leonard Pine are in for an action-packed adventure when they cross paths with a towering Pentecostal preacher, a midget with a giant attitude, and a gang of bikers turned soldiers of fortune... -
Country Of The Blind by Christopher Brookmyre
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe murder of a media mogul in his country mansion appears to be the result of his disturbing a gang of would-be thieves. The robbers are swiftly caught, but when they are unexpectedly moved to a different prison they escape. Back in Edinburgh, a young solicitor reveals to the press that one of the subjects had left a letter with her some time before the break-in which proves his innocence... -
Bad Guys by Linwood Barclay
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratings“Fans of the crime caper will rejoice” that Linwood Barclay is back with the hilarious follow-up to his “riotously funny and irreverent” debut, in which paranoid pop Zack Walker plotted to transplant his city-savvy wife and two teenage kids to the tranquillity of the burbs–where planned communities prevail and fathers rest easy... -
Vanilla Ride by Joe R. Lansdale
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"There's no bullshit in a Joe Lansdale book. There's everything a good story needs, and nothing it doesn't. Joe pulls up the truck, says, 'Get in the back, we're going for a ride.'You know it might get a little scary and it might get a little crazy, but you get in, because you know in the end, it's going to be a fun ride... -
The Blurred Man by Anthony Horowitz
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe man in the photo is so blurry, it's impossible to make out what he really looks like... -
Don't Ask by Donald E. Westlake
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn his latest caper, Dortmunder is hired to steal the femur of a 16-year-old girl who was canonized because, 800 years ago, she was killed and eaten by her family. Now two European countries and the Catholic church are fighting like dogs over the bone. How will this free-for-all end? Don't Ask... -
A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering by Andrew Hunter Murray
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOne perfect house. One dead body. One bad day.There are thousands and thousands of decent homes - very nice homes - with nobody living in them.There are thousands and thousands of broke young people - very nice young people - with nowhere decent to live.This is where Al comes in.Al lives in wealthy people's second houses when the real owners are away... -
-
The Magical Fruit by Jo Nesbø
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDoctor Proctor, Nilly, and Lisa take a sporty approach to saving the day in this fart-tastically funny adventure from New York Times bestselling author Jo Nesbø.When a Russian billionaire robs the Norwegian Gold Reserve and melts the last remaining gold bar into the Premier Soccer League trophy, it’s up to Doctor Proctor, Nilly, and Lisa to recapture the precious prize... -
Heart Seizure by Bill Fitzhugh
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSpence Tailor, a lawyer with an actual set of principles, loves his mama, Rose. Rose—with advanced cardiomyopathy and a rare blood type—is scheduled for a heart transplant. But when the president's heart craps out during a photo op three months before the national election, the White House chief of staff orders the FBI to seize the heart that was going to Rose—all in the name of democracy... -
The Rake Mistake by Erica Ridley
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEnjoy a Regency-set comedic caper featuring a book club of meddling spinsters and an assist by a very good dog.The closest Miss Philippa York has ever come to adventure is her Thursday afternoon reading circle with her fellow bluestockings of the beau monde... -
The Radioactive Redhead by John Zakour, Lawrence Ganem
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn this final title in a hilarious trilogy--following "The Plutonium Blonde" and "The Doomsday Brunette"--the last freelance private detective has a new case to solve involving androids, future tech wizards, out-of-control artificial intelligence, and futuristic mayhem. Original... -
Father Knows Death by Jeffrey Allen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt isn't that stay-at-home dad Deuce Winters wants to be his small town's unofficial sleuth. Between caring for his peppy five year-old-daughter Carly and helping to keep his ten-months-pregnant wife Julianne sane, he's certainly got his hands full. But, well, trouble does seem to find him. . -
The Shell Game by Janet Evanovich, Lee Goldberg
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIt was love at first con. Find out how FBI Special Agent Kate O’Hare and con artist Nicolas Fox first met in this exclusive eBook original short story! Con man Nick Fox is after Garson Klepper’s golden Peruvian relics. For Fox, convincing Klepper to hire him as security for the relocation of the relics to the Getty museum in L.A. was easy... -
Zoobreak by Gordon Korman
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe sequel to Gordon Korman's SWINDLE - the Man With A Plan is back!When Griffin Bing's class goes to a floating zoo, they don't expect to see animals being treated so badly. They don't expect to find Cleo, Dog Whisperer Savannah's pet monkey who's been missing for weeks... -
Większy kawałek świata by Joanna Chmielewska
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsPrzygody Okrętki i Tereski.Fragment: Robin poczuł, że dłużej tego nie zniesie. - Dajże spokój, rzeczywiście doprowadzisz do tego, że wszyscy rzucimy się do kopania. Masz imponującą wyobraźnię! Takie historie mogły się przytrafiać, oczywiście, ale wątpię, czy akurat tu. Przez tyle lat przeciekłyby jakieś informacje.. -
Public Enemy Number Two by Anthony Horowitz
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFramed for a jewel robbery, quick-thinking thirteen-year-old Nick Diamond finds himself sharing a prison cell with Johnny Powers, juvenile delinquent and Public Enemy Number One. Suddenly, Nick is Public Enemy Number Two! His only chance at breaking out of jail is his older—and much dimmer—brother Tim. He's possibly the world's worst private detective, but Nick has no choice... -
Boiling a Frog by Christopher Brookmyre
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJack Parlabane, the investigative journalist who is not averse to breaking the law for the sake of a good story, has finally been caught on the petard of his own self-confidence and is experiencing accommodation courtesy of Her Majesty. The fledgling Scottish parliament is in catatonic shock after experiencing its first dose of Westminster sleaze... -
-
The Burglar in the Library by Lawrence Block
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBookseller and New-Yorker-to-the-bone, Bernie Rhodenbarr rarely ventures out of Manhattan, but he's excited about the romantic getaway he has planned for himself and current lady love Lettice at the Cuttleford House, a remote upstate b&b. Unfortunately, Lettice has a prior engagement—she's getting married . . . and not to Bernie—so he decides to take best buddy Carolyn instead... -
Don't Get Caught by Kurt Dinan
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratings10:00 tonight at the water tower. Tell no one. -Chaos ClubWhen Max receives a mysterious invite from the untraceable, epic prank-pulling Chaos Club, he has to ask: why him? After all, he's Mr. 2.5 GPA, Mr. No Social Life. He's Just Max. And his favorite heist movies have taught him this situation calls for Rule #4: Be suspicious. But it's also his one shot to leave Just Max in the dust.. -
Captains Outrageous by Joe R. Lansdale
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHapless chicken-plant guard Hap Collins gets into trouble when he takes his best friend Leonard on a Caribbean cruise. The two find themselves abandoned in Mexico, saved from armed attackers by a geriatric fisherman and his lovely daughter, who's currently having to fend off a Mexican mobster who is also a practising nudist.. -
The Burglar in the Rye by Lawrence Block
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA new crime novel featuring Bernie Rhodenbarr, bookshop owner and burglar, who cannot help but come to the aid of a favourite author when his agent offers their very private correspondence for public sale. From the author of THE BURGLAR IN THE LIBRARY... -
Watch Me Die by Lee Goldberg
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHarvey Mapes is a 26-year-old security guard who spends his nights in a guard shack outside a gated community in Southern California, reading detective novels, watching reruns, and waiting for his life to finally start... which happens when Cyril Parkus, one of the wealthy residents, asks Harvey to follow his beautiful wife Lauren... -
Nobody's Perfect by Donald E. Westlake
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe priceless painting is titled "Folly Leads to Man's Ruin," and its owner, the rich and careless Mr. Chauncey, wants it stolen for the insurance payout. That's why he hires Dortmunder, who has a foolproof plan. Just in case, Chauncey also recruits a hit man to make sure he gets the painting back.Too bad Dortmunder doesn't take the painting's message to heart...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.