Raffles: The Gentleman Thief

Name: Raffles: The Gentleman Thief
Rating: 4 (90 reviews)

by Richard Foreman Book 1 in the Raffles series.

First published 2012

Amazon

3.8(90)

A. J. Raffles and Bunny Manders are hired to steal a compromising letter from Hatchards in Piccadilly. The document once belonged to René d’Aramis and could damage a senior member of the government if made public. The commission becomes more intriguing when their employer is revealed as Sherlock Holmes, placing literature’s gentleman thief in direct contact with its most celebrated detective.

Foreman retains the cricket, clubland manners and unreliable narration associated with E. W. Hornung’s characters while constructing a new contest of professional pride. Holmes requires Raffles’s criminal skill but remains capable of turning the assignment into a trap. Bunny watches two men who treat detection and burglary as rival arts, uncertain whether success means completing the theft or escaping the detective who arranged it.