The return of the most charming gentleman thief. Classic crime at it's best. As witty and urbane as Raffles himself.

An adventure story for readers who like their espionage with country houses and cricket - while there's a bit of the modern here (in the form of some general fussing about with sexual intrigue at a weekend party but, honestly, it's not "sexy" in any way) this is plants its feet firmly in the sort of "Dash it, man! That's not quite English, is it?" style that you have to be in the mood for to enjoy, especially since Raffles and Bunny are aren't blazing any new trails for characterization. The actual spying plot is a serious MacGuffin - there's some business with stolen letters and Germans but that's not why any of us came to the party, honestly, so I didn't bother. As a whole I liked it, but then I like this sort of thing.  A tentative recommend.

I have read and enjoyed previous books by this Author but I found this book difficult to get into ...........
The storyline was slow paced and quite predictive .......not for me this time

Princess Fuzzypants here:
I do love historical novels that can transport you back to another time and place.  Raffles does this in spades.  Raffles is a rapscallion who is also a very bad influence on our protagonist.  He is a famous "cracksman".  He is doubly famous both on the cricket field and in the homes of the wealthy where their valuables are not safe, in a safe,
When our two heroes are caught red-pawed breaking into a safe, their nemesis, a gruff Scot from Scotland Yard, takes them to meet some very highly placed people who want to use their questionable gifts.  Letters that cast aspersions on certain dignitaries have been stolen by German spies.  Their release will embarrass Edward VII and cause a political scandal.  They must find the letters and steal them back.
There is a merry chase all over London to the country and a weekend House Party.  They are thwarted at every turn until Raffles finally clicks on the clues and discovers who is the leader of the gang of spies.
It is highly entertaining, amusing and enticing.  It is the first of a new series and I for one will look forward to future adventures.
If you are a fan of Edwardian literature or just a cracking good mystery, check it out.  I give it five purrs and two paws up.

English writer Hornung's creation (in the late 1800s) of psychologically complex gentleman thief A.J. Raffles has inspired so many books, television shows, films and stage plays, that it seems odd to have to explain to people who he is, but that seems to be the case because the idea of Raffles became bigger than the character and his stories. The idea of a charismatic, upper class criminal who is more enamored of the adrenaline charge and overcoming the challenges of his crimes than what he actually thieves, appeals to people. 

Before I read this Raffles novel by a modern writer, I returned to the originals and read them from start to finish. While reading, I noted that Hornung tossed around the saying “Set a thief to catch a thief” often in his three collections of short stories and one novel, and it is that idea in particular that has inspired this pastiche Raffles novel (and the TV shows “To Catch a Theif” and “White Collar”). But to create the book, the author had to resurrect the gentleman thief from the grave where Hornung had put him, which he does believably enough.

Key to the original stories was the relationship between Raffles and his biographer-best friend-accomplice Henry (Bunny) Manders. Bunny explained in each collection (and novel) why he wrote the stories for the public to read, and that is the element I missed in the most in this book. Bunny never “spoke” to us about how he came to write this book, even if it is written in first-person like the original stories. We don't get much of his interesting 20/20 hindsight either. I would have loved more of that. And the author missed a beat by not having Raffles encounter Bunny at the beginning of this book by plan, not by chance, in one of Raffles' playful pranks.

Things missing in this book that I don't miss at all are the bigotry, anti-antisemitism, sexism and the rah-rah for the Englishman's dominion over half the world nonsense that marred the original works. The modern author even inserts some perspective on British colonialism, showing that theft of natural resources was behind it all. One thing missing from the new book that many readers won't miss are the Latin phases and classical allusions that spoke to the classically educated readers of Hornung's day. Another thing that will not be missed are the words that have since taken on different meanings, such as “fagging” and “ejaculated”.

The modern author works to bring the reader quickly up to speed on the history of Raffles and Bunny, and provides a few footnotes referencing the original stories. I was surprised when he even quoted a whole section of one story in which Raffles explained the appeal for him of both cricket and thieving. I noticed only two big divergences from the original works:  Bunny should be lame from his Boer War injury, and Raffles should be not salt and pepper headed with black eyes, but totally gray with blue eyes.

Was this book entertaining? Yes, although I had the feeling I had read or seen it all before, either in the Raffles stories (one situation in particular that Bunny should have recognized too!), or in the black and white Sherlock Holmes films with the goofy Watson character. The author's study of the era peppers the book throughout, dropping details that Bunny probably would not have bothered to include, solely for the benefit of modern readers, and that was often interesting, but sometimes jarring. 

Overall I'd say it was a fine effort, light reading, and diverting, although I didn't really like the jokes about the author Hornung that the author had Hornung's characters make; that felt like one step too far.

Raffles, gentleman thief, captured the imagination in collections of short stories an a few movies. But he disappeared from the pages around the time of the Boer War.

He has returned from the seeming dead and has reconnected with Bunny Masters, his long-time associate.

In this novel they are working alongside the law, albeit reluctantly, to foil a German spy ring intent on getting compromising letters out of England.

The bad guys are ruthless and the story moves nicely with plenty of action.

I've read a few of the original Raffles stories, but I have to confess that I didn't really take to him. But reading this book was really great fun. For one thing Mr. Tremayne has written a story that has the feel of a real Golden Age Crime novel, nothing jars, nothing sounds to modern, a truly wonderful achievement. For another, although I still don't like Raffles as a person, the story was very well thought of and executed.

Peter Tremayne is a great author.  We always buy his Sister Fidelma series for our library.  He brings new life into Raffles while keeping everything that we loved from Hornung's classic character.