"The Amateur Cracksman is a short story collection published in 1899 that introduces A. J. Raffles, a celebrated cricket champion and gentleman of London society who leads a secret double life as a jewel thief. Raffles was E. W. Hornung's most famous character, and this book led to three later works in the series. In public a popular sportsman, in private a cunning burglar with a weakness for valuable jewellery, Arthur Raffles — with the help of his sidekick Bunny Manders — always manages to thwart the investigations of Scotland Yard's Inspector Mackenzie. The books were suggested by Hornung's brother-in-law, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Raffles came into being almost as an anti-Sherlock Holmes."
"This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.
Arthur Raffles is a prominent member of London society, and a national sporting hero. As a cricketer he regularly represents England in Test matches. He uses this as a chance to commit a number of burglaries, primarily stealing valuable jewelry from his hosts. In this he is assisted by his friend, the younger, idealistic Bunny Manders. Both men are constantly under the surveillance of Inspector Mackenzie of Scotland Yard who is always thwarted in his attempts to pin the crimes on Raffles."
"Poor Bunny! A bad evening at cards leaves him without a penny, and desperate to preserve his good name. In his desperation he comes to A.J. Raffles, his old school friend, hoping for a solution.
Well... Raffles has one, but not perhaps the one Bunny was thinking of... for Raffles too, is desperately hard up, and has a novel solution to both their troubles: Burgulary!
The first in Hornung's Raffles: The Gentlemen Thief series, The Amateur Cracksman is a collection of eight short stories centered around the titular thief as narrated by his erstwhile compatriot bunny, from their first theft to a possible final farewell on a German steamship in the Mediterranean.
Narrated by Michael Ward."
"Dead Men Tell No Tales by E.W. Hornung is a gripping tale of high-seas adventure, treachery, and mystery. The novel follows a young man, Duncan, who finds himself entangled in a perilous voyage aboard a doomed ship. When disaster strikes and the vessel is wrecked, Duncan becomes the sole survivor, only to discover that escaping the sea is just the beginning of his troubles. A sinister conspiracy, hidden enemies, and a dangerous quest for truth unfold as he struggles to clear his name and uncover the dark secrets that threaten his life.
Narrated by Greg Blumhagen, this audiobook brings the suspense and tension of Hornung’s classic adventure to life, immersing listeners in a world of stormy seas, treachery, and shadowy figures. Combining elements of mystery, action, and survival, Dead Men Tell No Tales is a thrilling story that will captivate fans of classic adventure fiction and nautical intrigue.
Originally published in 1897, this novel remains a masterful blend of suspense and storytelling, cementing E.W. Hornung’s place among the great writers of adventure literature."
"This is a story of what could and often did happen during a gold rush to Australia in 1851.
Nothing is so easy as falling in love on a long sea voyage, except falling out of love. Especially was this the case in the days when the wooden clippers did finally land you in Sydney or in Melbourne under the four full months. Passengers and crew all saw far too much of each other, unless, indeed, they were to see still more. Their superficial attractions were mutually exhausted, they lost heart and patience in the disappointing strata which lie between the surface and the bed-rock of most natures. Most had not the faintest intention of falling in love on board. In one instance however, there was a young lady passenger who innocently could change such opinions. Eva Denison was her name, and she cannot have been more than nineteen-years-of-age and was as beautiful as she was young.
It was a time when, in many cases, ship captains and officers as well, would join in the stampede to the diggings. This often led to considerable numbers of masterless and deserted vessels. There were obviously many expecting to make their fortunes, but wound up often confronted by lawless ruffians who cared not how they might benefit by the gold rush. It brought about confused feelings of “what do we do now?” The overall situation was enough to bring about many twists and turns.
We invite you to listen now and find yourself wondering, ”Oh, oh, what next?"
"Ernest William Hornung known as Willie, was an English author, most famous for writing the Raffles series of novels about a gentleman thief in late Victorian London. In addition to his novels and short stories Hornung wrote some war verse, and a play based on the Raffles stories was produced successfully. He was much interested in cricket, and was 'a man of large and generous nature, a delightful companion and conversationalist'."
"How does a man who as committed a heavy sin — not a crime, but a sin with terrible consequences — atone for his behaviour? What if the man is a priest of the Church of England? That is the central question of E. W. Hornung's Peccavi (I have sinned). The Rev. Robert Carlton, rector of the rural parish of Long Stow, now finds not only his parishioners turned against him, but also his patron Wilton Gleed, for under English ecclesiastical law's allowance of advowson, a patron (usually a notable) could in effect name a particular clergyman to a church living, or benefice, under his control. What the patron could not do, however, was to eject a rector from his church and his rectory; that was a matter for the local bishop, not him."
"This tightly plotted mystery from E. W. Hornung tells the tale of Mr. Cazalet. Though he appears to be a globe-trotting adventurer without a care in the world, his past holds a dark secret—and he'll go to the ends of the earth to seek revenge. But when the object of his hatred turns up dead, Cazalet drops everything to figure out the identity of the murderer."
"Set in rural Australia, E. W. Hornung's mystery novel The Shadow of a Man follows a pair of newlyweds who are determined to make their improbable union work, no matter the odds. But little do they know exactly how high the odds are stacked against them—and the lengths that some will go to sabotage their love. Will the pair be able to overcome the obstacles in their way and live happily ever after?"
"Gentleman thief Raffles is daring, debonair, devilishly handsome-and a first-rate cricketer. In these eight stories, the master burglar indulges his passion for cricket and crime: stealing jewels from a country house, outwitting the law, pilfering from the nouveau riche, and, of course, bowling like a demon-all with the assistance of his plucky sidekick, Bunny. Encouraged by his brother-in-law, Arthur Conan Doyle, to write a series about a public school villain, and influenced by his own experiences at Uppingham, E. W. Hornung created a unique form of crime story, where, in stealing as in sport, it is playing the game that counts, and there is always honor among thieves."
"Raffles had vanished from the face of the town, and even I had no conception of his whereabouts until he cabled to me to meet the 7.31 at Charing Cross next night. That was on the Tuesday before the 'Varsity match, or a full fortnight after his mysterious disappearance. The telegram was from Carlsbad, of all places for Raffles of all men!"
"Since his friend and partner in crime, A. J. Raffles, jumped into the Mediterranean, Bunny Manders has scraped along as best he can. At Raffles's side, he was witness to, and participant in, the most ingenious burglaries the underworld had ever seen. Without him, Bunny is a struggling ex-convict, so down on his luck that he answers an ad seeking a male nurse and companion for a notoriously rude invalid. But when he lights the old man's Sullivan cigarette and sees a perfect smoke ring float into the air, Bunny cries out in delight. Raffles is back, and ready for adventure. 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."
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