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.

This collection of the finest short story mystery fiction by the most acclaimed writers, past and present features Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Burke, Harry Kemelman, and everyone in between. Edited by multi-award-winning mystery connoisseur Otto Penzler, it offers a delightful mixture of mystery and suspense.

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....

In this, the second collection of Hornungs’ stories to be recorded by Assembled Stories, the darker side of Raffles is laid bare. Inspector Mackenzie begins to suspect that the finest cricketer of his generation may not be wielding a straight bat, a suspicion further confirmed by the appearance of Reginald Crawshay, master criminal, late residence HM Prison, Dartmoor, at Raffles’ rooms at the Albany.

The next volume in the series of exciting stories about A. J. Raffles, first class slow bowler and gentleman thief. The author must have been delighted when his fictional character was such a success. Raffles would have said ‘timing is everything’ and the advice should have been delivered to his creator. Hornung made a grave error in finishing the master burglar’s life and career so soon, realised his mistake and brought him back to the printed page.

'Why should I work when I could steal?' Thus speaks A. J.Raffles, gentleman, the finest slow bowler of his generation and a shameless thief. When Bunny, an old school acquaintance, confesses that he will be dishonourably disgraced for writing cheques that his bank will not meet, Raffles persuades him to assist in a burglary. From that moment, Bunny is locked into a life of crime and, fortunately for his audience, recounts their adventures in a most thrilling way.

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

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.

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.

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 ...

Nothing is so easy as falling in love on a long sea voyage, except falling out of love. Especially was this the case in the days when the wooden clippers did finally land you in Sydney or in Melbourne under the four full months. Passengers and crew all saw far too much of each other, unless, indeed, they were to see still more. Their superficial attractions were mutually exhausted, they lost heart and patience in the disappointing strata which lie between the surface and the bed-rock of most natures.

http://www.adfreebooks.com - 500+ audiobooks, all ad freeTen tales of the adventures of an Australian Bushranger

Meeting failure in his search for wealth in the 1851 Australian gold rush, a dispirited Mr. Cole takes the next available ship back to England -- and falls in love with Eva Denison, a beautiful and accomplished young woman traveling with her exotic Portuguese step-father. After a disaster at sea Cole returns to anonymity in London... or so he thinks. Events lead to the discovery of a horrible conspiracy, and then to an adventure that may cost Cole his greatest love.