The hot rock (1970)

Dortmunder leaves prison and takes on an emerald theft that refuses to stay completed. The repeated attempts make crime look like awkward, unreliable labour: arranging people, solving practical problems and discovering that the last solution created another one. This is the comic choice in the selection. Enjoy the ingenuity while noticing how easily professional competence becomes the thieves' substitute for any discussion of who owns what they take.