Raffles: Stumped

Name: Raffles: Stumped
Rating: 4.1 (17 reviews)

by Richard Foreman Book 5 in the Raffles series.

First published 2012

Amazon

3.6(17)

Bunny Manders has borrowed from the ruthless moneylender Alexander Cardinal and faces the loss of his possessions or worse if the debt is not paid. With time running out, he turns to Raffles. The gentleman thief must devise a profitable crime at very short notice, without the preparation and social access that normally make his schemes possible.

Originally included within Caught Out, the story focuses on the unequal friendship at the centre of the series. Bunny’s financial weakness creates the emergency, but Raffles’s pride will not allow him to admit that a rescue may be impossible. The resulting burglary becomes a test of improvisation and trust within the credit culture of late Victorian London.

The moneylender embodies a credit system that can ruin a gentleman without ever appearing criminal itself. Bunny’s predicament is therefore not simply foolish borrowing but dependence on a financial world that treats reputation as security. Raffles’s burglary answers one questionable form of debt with another breach of law, preserving his friend’s position while deepening the moral compromise at the centre of their partnership.