A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering

By: Andrew Hunter Murray

Narrated by: Phil Dunster

Brought to you by Penguin.

Property might be theft. But the housing market is murder.

My name is Al. I live in wealthy people's second homes while their real owners are away.

I don’t rob them, I don’t damage anything… I’m more an unofficial house-sitter than an actual criminal.

Life is good.

Or it was - until last night, when my friends and I broke into the wrong place, on the wrong day, and someone wound up dead.

And now … now we’re in a great deal of trouble.

Featuring crooked houses, dodgy coppers and a lot of lockpicking, A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering is a gripping thriller about what it's like to be young, skilled, unemployed - and on the run.
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Love for A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering. . .

'Fantastic' Zoe Ball
'Madly fun and exciting' Lisa Jewell
‘A joyous read from start to finish. I loved it!’ Clare Mackintosh
'Witty, dazzling and incredibly addictive' Jenny Colgan
‘A bloody brilliant, fantastic book’ Philippa Perry
'It’s laugh-out-loud funny, proceeding at a pace that makes it almost impossible to put down.' Sunday Times
'A comic delight' Financial Times
'Smart, satirical, knowledgable, accurate, punchy, laugh out loud funny, surprising, shocking, thought provoking ... Loved it.' Matt Chorley, The Times
'A propulsive plot, an ingenious narrator and lashings of intrigue make this a genuine and thoroughly enjoyable page-turner.' Guardian
'A thoroughly entertaining mix of whodunnit, social satire and a cunningly smuggled-in love story.’ Mail on Sunday
'Tremendous fun: a quirky, gripping and insightful novel that kept me reading late into the night.' Elizabeth Macneal
‘A giddy, addictive thrill ride of a book - who knew accidental espionage was so much fun?!' Daisy Buchanan
'Legit brilliant, FUN and FUNNY and I couldn’t recommend it more' Stevie Martin
‘Dark, funny, and deeply twisted' Val McDermid

©2024 Andrew Hunter Murray (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Hilarious

Smart, satirical, knowledgable, accurate, punchy, laugh out loud funny, surprising, shocking, thought provoking. Lovely short chapters. Loved it

Hugely entertaining…the novel is politically astute, gradually revealing a scam involving property and international money laundering. It’s laugh-out-loud funny, proceeding at a pace that makes it almost impossible to put down.

A propulsive plot, an ingenious narrator and lashings of intrigue make this a genuine and thoroughly enjoyable page-turner

The plot is corset-tight and lavish with its surprises. An amusing crime caper…a delight

What drives Hunter Murray’s chunky crime thriller along is Al’s idiosyncratic, comic narrative voice. As a result, it’s fun to spend time with him, even when it’s clear he’s not necessarily a great human being

Filled with humour, shocks, love and hate – and a few handy tips on how to beat the housing crisis… Funny, thoughtful and all-round entertaining

In the delicious A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering, a hapless housebreaker and his fellow miscreants must solve a murder before the police arrest them; it’s a comic delight.

I was hooked ... as it's filled with hilarious moments

This was fun.

I liked Al’s story. A fun murder mystery with an unlikely group of characters. And as a Fish fan, I loved getting hear Andy’s acknowledgements at the end.

Funniest Book Ever!!!!

Phil Dunster’s (sp?) reading was PERFECT! His timing was so spot on! Love this author’s sense of humor and great dialogue. Will definitely look for other books he writes. I have never laughed so hard and so frequently! HIGHLY recommend!

The perfect pairing of narrator and story

Even on the page, I’m sure I would’ve thoroughly enjoyed this book. But I know, beyond doubt, that this narrator brought it to life in a way my own mind could never have done so. I’m so glad I took a chance and stepped outside the box of my usual reading genres.

Entertaining & surprising plot twists

Phil Dunster’s read of the story with many character voices made this wonderful, quirky book even better. This book was quite funny , which was surprising & had so many twists & turns. Phil Dunster needs to read more books for Audible. Is there anything he can’t do well? A fun listen !!!

Great story and narration!

Andrew Hunter Murray is a wonderful storyteller and I look forward to reading more from him. The characters are interesting and the plot is enthralling! I didn’t want to turn it off, I was so intrigued to see what happened next!