Arthur J. Raffles is a character created in the 1890s by E. W. Hornung, brother-in-law to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Raffles is, in many ways, a deliberate inversion of Holmes - he is a ""gentleman thief,"" living at the Albany, a prestigious address in London, playing cricket for the Gentlemen of England and supporting himself by carrying out ingenious burglaries. He is called the ""Amateur Cracksman,"" and often, at first, differentiates between himself and the ""professors"" - professional criminals from the lower classes. As Holmes has Dr. Watson to chronicle his adventures, Raffles has Harry ""Bunny"" Manders - a former schoolmate saved from disgrace and suicide by Raffles, whom Raffles persuaded to accompany him on a burglary. While Raffles often takes advantage of Manders' relative innocence, and sometimes treats him with a certain amount of contempt, he knows that Manders' bravery and loyalty are to be relied on utterly.

This edition includes: The Amateur Cracksman The Ides of March A Costume Piece Gentlemen and Players Le Premier Pas Wilful Murder . . . The Black Mask; or Raffles: Further Adventures No Sinecure A Jubilee Present The Fate of Faustina The Last Laugh To Catch a Thief . . . A Thief in the Night Out of Paradise The Chest of Silver The Rest Cure The Criminologists' Club The Field of Philippi . . . Mr. Justice Raffles (Novel) THE SEQUELS TO THE ORIGINAL SERIES by JOHN KENDRICK BANGS Mrs. Raffles The Adventure of the Herald Personal The Adventure of the Newport Villa The Adventure of Mrs. Gaster's Maid The Pearl Rope of Mrs. Gushington-andrews . . . R. Holmes and Co. Introducing Mr. Raffles Holmes The Adventure of The Dorrington Ruby Seal The Adventure of Mrs. Burlingame's Diamond Stomacher The Adventure of The Missing Pendants . . . E. W. Hornung (1866–1921) was an English author and poet and also brother-in-law to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Hornung is known for writing the A. J. Raffles series about a gentleman thief based on a deliberate inversion of the Sherlock Holmes series. Hornung dedicated his creation as a form of flattery to Doyle. John Kendrick Bangs (1862–1922) was an American author, editor and satirist. He is famous for "Bangsian Fantasy" genre in which famous literary characters or historical individuals meet and interact in the afterlife.

E.W. Hornung was an English author best known for writing the A.J. Raffles series about an English gentleman thief in the late 19th century.

Originally published in The Strand Magazine, where he was second in popularity only to the legendary Sherlock Holmes, these stories introduced the world to antihero gentleman cricketer and thief, A.J. Raffles, along with his faithful cohort, Bunny Manders. This collection includes all of author E.W. Hornung's Raffles adventures. Contains the short story collections: The Amateur Cracksman The Black Mask The Thief in the Night And the novel Mr Justice Raffles