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sistermagpie's review against another edition
3.0
If you're ever looking for a good example of the "gentleman thief" prototype Simon Carne is your man. This book is really a collection of short stories, each one detailing one of his exploits. He steals a famous necklace, money for earthquake victims (that one was hard to enjoy given the terrible earthquake that just happened, even if the story makes clear that the hurricane victims do get the money), a racehorse--and along the way he foils a Fenian terrorist plot.
The book also pokes fun at the amateur detective genre, as Carne pretends to be a Sherlock Holmes-type figure who "solves" his own crimes.
The stories aren't quite biting or hilarious enough to make them classics. The moment that made me laugh the most was the description of Carne. Since the stories are allegedly being written by a man who was fooled by Carne, but are actually written by Carne himself, his gushingly flattering descriptions of his own gorgeousness are pretty great.
The book also pokes fun at the amateur detective genre, as Carne pretends to be a Sherlock Holmes-type figure who "solves" his own crimes.
The stories aren't quite biting or hilarious enough to make them classics. The moment that made me laugh the most was the description of Carne. Since the stories are allegedly being written by a man who was fooled by Carne, but are actually written by Carne himself, his gushingly flattering descriptions of his own gorgeousness are pretty great.
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