Arthur J. Raffles is a character created in the 1890s by E. W. Hornung, brother-in-law to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Raffles is, in many ways, a deliberate inversion of Holmes - he is a ""gentleman thief,"" living at the Albany, a prestigious address in London, playing cricket for the Gentlemen of England and supporting himself by carrying out ingenious burglaries. He is called the ""Amateur Cracksman,"" and often, at first, differentiates between himself and the ""professors"" - professional criminals from the lower classes. As Holmes has Dr. Watson to chronicle his adventures, Raffles has Harry ""Bunny"" Manders - a former schoolmate saved from disgrace and suicide by Raffles, whom Raffles persuaded to accompany him on a burglary. While Raffles often takes advantage of Manders' relative innocence, and sometimes treats him with a certain amount of contempt, he knows that Manders' bravery and loyalty are to be relied on utterly.

Originally published in The Strand Magazine, where he was second in popularity only to the legendary Sherlock Holmes, these stories introduced the world to antihero gentleman cricketer and thief, A.J. Raffles, along with his faithful cohort, Bunny Manders. This collection includes all of author E.W. Hornung's Raffles adventures. Contains the short story collections: The Amateur Cracksman The Black Mask The Thief in the Night And the novel Mr Justice Raffles

These are E. W. Hornung's famous stories of adventure and crime featuring the thrill seeking A. J. Raffles and his friend, accomplice and chronicler 'Bunny'. By turns urbane gentleman about town and accomplished cricketer, life is just too ordinary for Raffles and that sets him on a series of adventures that have long been treasured as a real antidote to the 'white knights' who are the usual heroes of the crime fiction of this period. This book includes the first two collections of Raffles-the Gentleman Cracksman-stories, The Amateur Cracksman & The Black Mask-comprising some 16 stories in all. Included are 'The Ides of March, ' 'Nine Points of the Law, ' 'The Fate of Faustina' and many other favourites. Leonaur is bringing the entire Raffles adventures together in two matching volumes which are available in softcover and hardcover with dust jacket-making them perfect for collector

The adventures of one of fiction's most enduring characters, the hyper-elegant A. J. Raffles, man-about-town, thief, and 'finest slow bowler of his generation'. With his partner in crime, Bunny Manders Raffles preys on the rich, the greedy, and the unspeakably vulgar. His talents are exercised not only in London, but as far afield as Italy, Australia, and South Africa at the height of the Boer War. The emphasis on panache, with intensifying suggestions of fallibility, goes to the heart of late Vicotiran attitudes and values. In this volume are all the adventures contained in The Amateur Cracksman, The Black Mask, and A Thief in the Night, with a new introduction and a map of London locations.

When Dave Fenner is hired to solve the Blandish kidnapping, he knows the odds on finding the girl are against him - the cops are still looking for her three months after the ransom was paid. And the kidnappers, Riley and his gang, have disappeared into thin air. But what none of them knows is that Riley himself has been wiped out by a rival gang - and the heiress is now in the hands of Ma Grisson and her son Slim, a vicious killer who can't stay away from women, especially his beautiful new captive. By the time Fenner begins to close in on them, some terrible things have happened to Miss Blandish ...

This early work by Arthur Conan Doyle was originally published in 1891 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1859. It was between 1876 and 1881, while studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh, that he began writing short stories, and his first piece was published in Chambers's Edinburgh Journal before he was 20. In 1887, Conan Doyle's first significant work, A Study in Scarlet, appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual. It featured the first appearance of detective Sherlock Holmes, the protagonist who was to eventually make Conan Doyle's reputation. A prolific writer, Conan Doyle continued to produce a range of fictional works over the following years. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

In 1819 Sir Stamford Raffles, without authority from London, raised the British flag on a small jungle-covered island and founded a settlement which would become the city state of Singapore. It was the crowning moment in an extraordinary career in South-East Asia, which saw Raffles shake off his humble beginnings to become Lieutenant-Governor of Java. But his success in the tropics was overshadowed by professional conflict and personal tragedy. Acclaimed biographer Victoria Glendinning charts the extraordinary life of an English adventurer, disobedient employee of the East India Company, utopian imperialist, linguist, naturalist, collector and troublesome visionary. If Raffles' own end was tragic, the mark he left on the world is indelible. His name and fame are undimmed today and, as he hoped, Singapore has become his lasting monument.

This carefully edited collection has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. THE ORIGINAL SERIES by E. W. HORNUNG The Amateur Cracksman The Ides of March A Costume Piece Gentlemen and Players Le Premier Pas Wilful Murder . . . The Black Mask; or Raffles: Further Adventures No Sinecure A Jubilee Present The Fate of Faustina The Last Laugh To Catch a Thief . . . A Thief in the Night Out of Paradise The Chest of Silver The Rest Cure The Criminologists' Club The Field of Philippi . . . Mr. Justice Raffles (Novel) THE SEQUELS TO THE ORIGINAL SERIES by JOHN KENDRICK BANGS Mrs. Raffles The Adventure of the Herald Personal The Adventure of the Newport Villa The Adventure of Mrs. Gaster's Maid The Pearl Rope of Mrs. Gushington-andrews . . . R. Holmes and Co. Introducing Mr. Raffles Holmes The Adventure of The Dorrington Ruby Seal The Adventure of Mrs. Burlingame's Diamond Stomacher The Adventure of The Missing Pendants . . . E. W. Hornung (1866–1921) was an English author and poet and also brother-in-law to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Hornung is known for writing the A. J. Raffles series about a gentleman thief based on a deliberate inversion of the Sherlock Holmes series. Hornung dedicated his creation as a form of flattery to Doyle. John Kendrick Bangs (1862–1922) was an American author, editor and satirist. He is famous for "Bangsian Fantasy" genre in which famous literary characters or historical individuals meet and interact in the afterlife.