Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman
Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman, by E.W. Hornung.
Lighthearted tales of 'amateur cracksman' A.J. Raffles ('amateur' in much the same way Sherlock Holmes might be called 'amateur' - i.e., not employed by anyone but his own interest in his chosen field), set in a world where "[s]ocial disgrace was more to be feared than death". (From the introduction to the 1994 Wordsworth paperback edition.)
Raffles steals sometimes for the money, sometimes for the fun of it, often for both, but always for the sheer, delicious risk of it all.
Being a Holmes junkie myself, it's a pleasure to read something told by a similarly dedicated Everyman, only from the criminal's point of view.
Holmes is not Holmes without his Watson, nor Nero Wolfe himself without Archie Goodwin. So, too, it appears Raffles isn't Raffles without his "Bunny" Manders.
(Hornung was married to Arthur Conan Doyle's sister. Apparently, the brothers-in-law got on like a house on fire.)
Lighthearted tales of 'amateur cracksman' A.J. Raffles ('amateur' in much the same way Sherlock Holmes might be called 'amateur' - i.e., not employed by anyone but his own interest in his chosen field), set in a world where "[s]ocial disgrace was more to be feared than death". (From the introduction to the 1994 Wordsworth paperback edition.)
Raffles steals sometimes for the money, sometimes for the fun of it, often for both, but always for the sheer, delicious risk of it all.
Being a Holmes junkie myself, it's a pleasure to read something told by a similarly dedicated Everyman, only from the criminal's point of view.
Holmes is not Holmes without his Watson, nor Nero Wolfe himself without Archie Goodwin. So, too, it appears Raffles isn't Raffles without his "Bunny" Manders.
(Hornung was married to Arthur Conan Doyle's sister. Apparently, the brothers-in-law got on like a house on fire.)
