The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar

About the book

Arsène Lupin moves through these stories as a criminal whose reputation can be as useful as any disguise. A shipboard mystery, an apparently secure prison, valuable jewels, and guarded domestic spaces become settings for contests in which the obvious account rarely proves sufficient. Leblanc shifts attention between Lupin's ingenuity and the bewilderment of those trying to identify or contain him. The collection invites readers to admire performance without forgetting that its performer manipulates both people and information. Its linked episodes develop a character through anecdotes, surprises, and changes of viewpoint rather than through a single sustained pursuit. A concluding encounter with an English detective places competing kinds of cleverness in direct relation, extending the playful question of who is entitled to explain events after they have occurred.

• Disguise
• Ingenuity
• Crime and performance

Why read it

For ingenious reversals that turn detection into a contest with a thief who understands the pleasures of a well-managed story.

Story collection · English translation by George Morehead