under_the_silk_tree | Raffles: Further Adventures of the Amateur Cracksman & A Thief in the Night

My first book for

ljbookbingo is Raffles: Further Adventures of the Amateur Cracksman by E.W. Hornung for #12 Short Story Anthology card found here:

In the second installment in E. W. Hornung’s crackerjack crime series, England’s greatest jewel thief is up to all of his old tricks and many ingenious new ones—none so spectacular as turning Queen Victoria herself into an accomplice. ~Amazon Description

Raffles and Bunny return in this sequel. Once again it is a collection of short stories and although maybe not quite as good as the first book it is still very good. I continued to feel bad for Harry "Bunny" Manders who having just served 18mths in jail is unable to make much of his chosen career as a writer and he has been shunned by his only living relative so he is close to being homeless. Of course that's when he meets up with Raffles again who had survived his swim to freedom at the end of the last book and now has made his way back to England. The various stories are all fairly interesting and the dynamic between Raffles and Bunny continues to be intriguing. Bunny is still (IMHO) very much in love with Raffles and Raffles continues to be protective of Bunny although he at times can be a touch self-centered. The ending story is sad but considering there are two more books in the series it helps mitigate it a bit. Of course I do need to warn for Victorian era racism and anti-Semitism.

My second book for

ljbookbingo is A Thief in the Night by E.W. Hornung for #20 A Book of Less then 200 Pages card found here:

Pushed to the very brink of disaster, the quick-footed Raffles recovers in style. In these classic stories, England’s most honorable thief and his loyal companion elude criminologists, cops, and ruthless professional villains, stealing whatever they want—and doing it with flair. ~Amazon Description

This was another grouping of short stories featuring A.J. Raffles and Harry "Bunny" Manders. These stories take place in-between and around the other two books. I continued to enjoy the relationship between Bunny and Raffles. Bunny is an interesting character because he enjoys the high from committing crime but then he has regrets and lots of guilt. Plus he craves Raffles approval and attention and he gets both by going along on these capers. Raffles in most of the stories seems very carefree and seems to be chasing the high that comes with outsmarting others. He is very lackadaisical about his crimes except for a couple of the later ones where he expresses regrets and wants to make amends.

Also if you're interested all of the Raffles books are public domain and can be read on Project Gutenberg and the audiobooks can be found for free on Librivox. Plus this handy tumblr post goes over where to find all the books, radio plays, pastiches, tv shows, & movies.