Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman

Written by E. W. Hornung

Narrated by Roy Macready

Ernest William Hornung(1866-1921) was born in Middlesborough, England and educated at Uppingham School, Rutland. He spent two years in Australia for his health, returning to England in 1886.

In 1893 he married Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's sister Constance and five years later the first of his stories of “Raffles” the gentleman burglar appeared in Cassell's Magazine. More stories followed and proved extremely popular.

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.

The activities of the gentleman cricketer and his associate are highly questionable but “he never steals from his hosts and he helps his old friends in trouble”.

The stories are:

• “The Ides of March”
• “A Costume Piece”
• “Gentleman and Players”
• “Le Premier Pas”
• “Wilful Murder”
• “Nine Points of the Law”
• “The Return Match”
• “The Gift of the Emperor”

Public Domain (P)2016 Spiders' House Audio/Roy Macready

• Language: English
• Publisher: Big Happy Family
• Release date: Apr 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781509461479

E. W. Hornung

Ernest William Hornung (1866 –1921) was a prolific English poet and novelist, famed for his A. J. Raffles series of novels about a gentleman thief in late 19th century London. Hornung spent most of his life in England and France, but in 1883 he traveled to Australia where he lived for three years, his experiences there shaping many of his novels and short stories. On returning to England he worked as a journalist, and also published many of his poems and short stories in newspapers and magazines. A few years after his return, he married Constance Aimée Doyle, sister of his friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with whom he had a son. During WWI he followed the troops in French trenches and later gave a detailed account of his encounters in Notes of a Camp-Follower on the Western Front. Ernest Hornung died in 1921.