Showing results by author "E.W. Hornung" in All Categories

The first collection of the exploits of A.J. Raffles and his friend Bunny Manders was published as The Amateur Cracksman in 1899. The characters of Raffles and Bunny were possibly inspired by his brother-in-law's creations, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, although they are on the opposite side of the law.

When a disheartened and broke Mr. Cole boards a ship, the Lady Jermyn, in Australia for a return to England, he little knows what is in store for him. Love, disaster and loss enfold him on the journey home. Once there he is followed, threatened and befriended. A strange series of events make him doubt his sanity before he discovers the secret of the Lady Jermyn and what really happened.

E. W. Hornung was an English author and poet best known for writing the A. J. Raffles series of stories about a gentleman thief in late 19th-century London. Some of Hornung's novels, including The Thousandth Woman, are notable for "portraying women in a rather modern, favorable light", according a critic. In The Thousandth Woman, the title character staunchly stands by the man she loves after he is accused of murder. This novel, published shortly before the outbreak of World War I, is one of Hornung’s final works of fiction. ( Lee Smalley)

"I'd tasted blood, and it was all over with me. Why should I work when I could steal? Why settle down to some humdrum uncongenial billet, when excitement, romance, danger and a decent living were all going begging together?"- A. J. Raffles, The Ides of March.The Amateur Cracksman is the first collection of stories about A. J. Raffles, gentleman, cricketer, and thief. After stopping his old school friend, Bunny Manders, from a desperate attempt at suicide, Raffles introduces the unsuspecting Bunny to a new way of earning a living, burglary. Though frequently horrified by Raffles's actions, the ...

Ernest William Hornung known as Willie, was an English author, most famous for writing the Raffles series of novels about a gentleman thief in late Victorian London. In addition to his novels and short stories Hornung wrote some war verse, and a play based on the Raffles stories was produced successfully. He was much interested in cricket, and was "a man of large and generous nature, a delightful companion and conversationalist".

How does a man who as committed a heavy sin - not a crime, but a sin with terrible consequences - atone for his behaviour? What if the man is a priest of the Church of England? That is the central question of E. W. Hornung's Peccavi (I have sinned).

Set in rural Australia, E. W. Hornung's mystery "The Shadow of a Man" follows a pair of newlyweds who are determined to make their improbable union work, no matter the odds. But little do they know exactly how high the odds are stacked against them - and the lengths that some will go to sabotage their love. Will the pair be able to overcome the obstacles in their way and live happily ever after?

This fast-paced story from E. W. Hornung has something for every reader: a juicy murder mystery, a tender romance, charming local color, a critique of Victorian social mores, around-the-world adventures, and much more. The plot twists come at a breakneck pace, so don't blink or you might miss a crucial clue!

This tightly plotted mystery from E. W. Hornung tells the tale of Mr. Cazalet. Though he appears to be a globe-trotting adventurer without a care in the world, his past holds a dark secret - and he'll go to the ends of the earth to seek revenge. But when the object of his hatred turns up dead, Cazalet drops everything to figure out the identity of the murderer.

Raffles had vanished from the face of the town, and even I had no conception of his whereabouts until he cabled to me to meet the 7.31 at Charing Cross next night. That was on the Tuesday before the Varsity match, or a full fortnight after his mysterious disappearance. The telegram was from Carlsbad, of all places for Raffles of all men!

This early work by Ernest William Hornung was originally published in 1911 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. "The Camera Fiend" is a novel about a young man who travels to London to see a doctor for his asthma but while there becomes involved in a spot of trouble with unexpected consequences.

Since his friend and partner in crime, A. J. Raffles, jumped into the Mediterranean, Bunny Manders has scraped along as best he can. At Raffles's side, he was witness to, and participant in, the most ingenious burglaries the underworld had ever seen. Without him, Bunny is a struggling ex-convict, so down on his luck that he answers an ad seeking a male nurse and companion for a notoriously rude invalid. But when he lights the old man's Sullivan cigarette and sees a perfect smoke ring float into the air, Bunny cries out in delight. Raffles is back, and ready for adventure.

Gentleman thief Raffles is daring, debonair, devilishly handsome-and a first-rate cricketer. In these eight stories, the master burglar indulges his passion for cricket and crime: stealing jewels from a country house, outwitting the law, pilfering from the nouveau riche, and, of course, bowling like a demon-all with the assistance of his plucky sidekick, Bunny.

A Thief in the Night is the third book in the series, and the final collection of short stories. In it, Raffles, a gentleman thief, commits a number of burglaries in late Victorian England. Chronicler and accomplice Bunny Manders narrates additional adventures which he had previously omitted, from various points in their criminal careers.

Jeremy Clyde stars as the cricket playing A. J. Raffles, with Michael Cochrane as his jeweller sidekick, Bunny. Together they embark upon a series of well-planned crimes against the highest of society.

The Gift of the Emperor features Hornung’s most famous character, gentleman thief A. J. Raffles. When his friend and struggling journalist Bunny Manders tells Raffles of his recent article detailing a priceless pearl gifted to Queen Victoria by a European emperor, Raffles quickly sees an opportunity to get his hands on it and invites Bunny to accompany him on a sea voyage to Italy.

A fascinating collection of intriguing and unusual classic murder stories by some of the masters of mystery and crime writing.

Skrimshaw is the saloon passenger on board the Lochwinnoch, bound for Australia. He is relieved as the ship sets sail from England, because for the next three months at least, he is safe from the gallows. He has just committed a brutal murder and is fleeing justice. But within a month, news of the fugitive passenger is signaled to the captain of the ship. Skrimshaw has to find a way to escape before the police are called aboard the ship at Melbourne....

Ernest William Hornung (1866-1921) was an English writer best known for tales of the gentleman thief A. J. Raffles and his sidekick, Bunny Manders in late 19th-century London. These two characters are thought to have been in part based on his friends Oscar Wilde and his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, and also on Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. In A Costume Piece Raffles is determined to steal the purple diamonds which are worn ostentatiously be the wealthy society bully Reuben Rosenthal.

The resurrected Raffles has his final innings in these whimsical adventurous reminiscences recounted by his accomplice and friend Bunny Manders. The author skillfully manages to tie up a few loose ends from preceding plots and the final revelation is a moving tribute to his fictional hero, the finest slow bowler of his generation and best known gentleman thief in literary history.