Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman

Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman

Gentleman thief Raffles is daring, debonair, devilishly handsome - and a first-class cricketer. In these eight stories the master burglar indulges his passion for cricket and crime: thieving jewels from a country house, outwitting the law, stealing from the nouveau riche and, of course, bowling like a demon - all with the assistance of his plucky sidekick Bunny. Encouraged by a suggestion from his brother-in-law Arthur Conan Doyle to write a series about a public-school villain, and influenced by his own days at Uppingham, Ernest Hornung created a unique form of crime story, where, in stealing as in sport, it is playing the game that counts, and there is always honour among thieves. E. W. Hornung (1866-1921) created Raffles the gentleman burglar, hero of The Amateur Cracksman (1899) and Mr. Justice Raffles (1909) and wrote many other adventure stories published in magazines and in book form. He married Arthur Conan Doyle's sister Constance, traveled widely, and played cricket.