Raffles: A Perfect Wicket
By Richard Foreman
Reviewed by Dawn
Guest Writer for The Baker Street Babes
Raffles: A Perfect Wicket, is the third story
about Raffles and Bunny, written expertly by Richard Foreman.
During a dry spell in the nightly activities
of thieving, Raffles is invited to a party at Lord Rosebery's by Lucy, whom
Raffles met in Raffles: The Gentleman Thief. Rosebery, another real life person
to feature in Foreman's stories, is a former Prime Minister, quite wealthy, and
Raffles jumps at the chance to relieve him of some of his riches. However, one
never knows Raffles' plans fully. It turns out to be a night of a few turns of
events, including a surprise appearance by a well known inspector, and its not
Mackenzie!
This is easily the funniest of the Raffles
stories. Foreman shows his subtle humor through his characters' ironic comments
about contemporary society, from the political scene to the growing women's
movement around the late 19th century. Raffles and Bunny are the perfect
neutral observers, and as an omniscient reader it is easy to see the parallels
in today's society. Surprisingly, or maybe not, nothing much has changed.
The language is lush, even rather poetic at
times. It's nice to see that Foreman has a knack of describing a beautiful
scenery and not just the best method of lockpicking. I fear I'll end up
repeating myself, but these stories fully live up to E. W. Hornung's original
books, so if you like me cannot get enough of Raffles, Bunny and their
adventures in cricket and crime (mostly crime), these new stories are worth all
of your attention.
Download it [HERE]!
