After bringing the exploits of Arsène Lupin and Fantômas back from obscurity, Penguin Classics resurrects a whole slew of gentlemen thieves in THE PENGUIN BOOK OF GASLIGHT CRIME: CON ARTISTS, ROGUES, AND SCOUNDRELS FROM THE TIME OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. Anyone who enjoys a good, smart, short, literate crime caper should snatch this anthology up … but pay for it, please.
Editor Michael Sims has rounded up a dozen examples of this all-but-dead subgenre — a lineup that includes works by the likes of O. Henry, William Hope Hodgson, Edgar Wallace and Sinclair Lewis, but mostly from authors whose reps have vanished like so many objects in their stories.
Their antiheroes use the tricks of their trade to trick the rich and gullible out of jewels — the shinier, the better — and even identities, not to mention good-ol’-fashioned cash. While not household names, some of the characters do enjoy some cult followings. Raffles is hired to steal a painting in E.W. Hornung’s “Nine Points of the Law,” while the French detective Valmont investigates the theft of 500 diamonds in a mystery by Robert Barr.
Those unaccustomed to pop-lit of this era may require a slight transitionary period getting used to its language and style — markedly different from today’s crime fiction, the stories aren’t the kind of thing to dive into with abandon. (Henry’s more comic-driven entry may be the exception.) Patience and an understanding of the times — which Sims’ intro more than supplies — are key to approaching and appreciating these fine tales. —Rod Lott
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Quite an interesting collection.