The only Giles Blunt novels I've read before this one were ones in the John Cardinal series.
This is a stand alone novel, not part of the series, not set in Northern Ontario.

For all the things it was not, it was a good book, following the story of Owen and his great uncle Max as they travel the United States planning and carrying out "performances" which are really just meticulously planned robberies.

Of course you have to throw in a pretty girl, an angry ex-boyfriend and some health issues that threaten their way of life.

I prefer the John Cardinal series but I will try more of Blunt's stand alones.

Cute caper book - an old English actor and his great-nephew spend their summers traveling across the US with an eye to interesting sights and a little grand larceny. Problems arise when an old "friend" from "Oxford", Zig, decides he wants in on the take... and then there's Sabrina.

This read like one of those books that would be better as a movie (and perhaps was written with that in mind).

No Such Creature features Max & Owen Maxwell, an uncle-nephew heist team. Max & Owen rely on their wits and Max's theatrical training to pull off grand heists without the need for violence. Unfortunately for them, their most recent success draws the attention of another criminal who is no stranger to violence. Throw in the daughter of an old family friend who also has criminal tendencies and mayhem abounds. Though the main thrust of the novel is overlapping games of cat and mouse, it also has a rather sweet thread of what it means to be a family running throughout the narrative. No Such Creature is a comic and captivating caper that will tug at your heartstrings.

http://iubookgirl.blogspot.com/2010/07/blunt-giles.html

i gave up on it. good read, but not really my thing.

I am a huge fan of Giles Blunt and his mystery series set in Ontario's near north. I assumed when I requested to review this book that it would be in the same series and I was disappointed that it wasn't. However, I like Blunt's writing, so I decided to read it on its own merits. Having put it down a few times to read other things I finally finished it the other day and I can't say I was blown away.

I usually need to like at least one of the main characters in a book to care about what happens to them, but I couldn't care about these characters. An old con man and his nephew on their "last hurrah" across the US are tracked by badder thieves who want to hurt them and take their money. Well, that's what you get when you live a life of crime. That kind of story is sometimes done well (I think of Ocean's Eleven) but I think it fell flat this time. I look forward to Blunt's next book, but I must confess I hope it's a John Cardinal mystery.