E. W. Hornung wrote British crime and adventure fiction best known for A. J. Raffles, a gentleman cricketer who finances his lifestyle through burglary. The Amateur Cracksman introduces Raffles through stories narrated by his schoolfriend Bunny Manders, whose admiration and anxiety create a deliberate echo of the Holmes-and-Watson partnership from the opposite side of the law. Later collections such as The Black Mask and A Thief in the Night continue with thefts, disguises and moral complications rather than conventional detective puzzles. Hornung's prose is brisk, witty and strongly Edwardian in social setting, with sport, class and clubland forming part of the criminal world. His work fits classic crime, gentleman-thief fiction and late Victorian adventure. Read more Less
No products in the cart.