THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ARSENE LUPIN, GENTLEMAN-BURGLAR by Maurice Leblanc

This is it. A landmark work, not only in crime fiction but also in the Dust & Corruption pantheon. Arsene Lupin's first published adventures. It doesn't get any better than this.

First published in 1905 (and now public domain) this sets the standard. Sure, other sympathetic crooks were around before. most notably A. J. Raffles, but Lupin was much better written and simply more fun. The stories were originally published in the magazine "Je sais tout," starting in July of 1905 (113 years ago!) and grew to encompass 24 novels and short-story collections. I want to read as many as I can.

I mean, how can I resist a burglar who leaves a note in a noble's home, reading, "Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar, will return when the furniture is genuine"? On one hand, it's almost a parody of the snobbish criminal who won't stain his hands with reproductions....but it's also a blast at the vulgar wealthy who try to maintain an appearance of taste and culture. I get a sense that Lupin wouldn't have mocked him if the noble had been more honest about himself.

So, to run down...

The first three stories make a trilogy. "The Arrest of Arsene Lupin" introduces the character and has him sneaking aboard a cruise ship from France to America, and also makes it clear that he's got a weakness for beautiful women. (But of course....) "Arsene Lupin in Prison" has him announcing a daring burglary while in prison, and actually pulling it off despite everyone's doubts. "The Escape of Arsene Lupin" has one of the more amusing, and more complicated, prison-escape plots I've ever seen, and makes for zesty reading.

"The Mysterious Traveler" is a first-person story from Lupin's viewpoint, in which he captures a murderer on a train. "The Queen's Necklace" is intriguing as it gives us a potential origin story for Lupin, and has him committing dashing thefts even as a child.

"The Seven of Hearts" is one of my favorites, as it introduces us to a narrator (presumably Leblanc himself) who tells of how he first met Lupin, and also gives us a bizarre and intriguing mystery with Gothic overtones. Who's breaking into the journalist's apartment? What are they seeking? What's the meaning of the playing card poked full of holes?

In "Madame Imbert's Safe," Lupin meets his match in a pair of con artists. "The Black Pearl" has him starting on a daring jewel robbery....only to find himself in the middle of a murder. And the last story, "Sherlock Holmes Arrives Too Late" is perhaps one of the more interesting of the bunch, in that it's good and early example of the literary crossover, in having Lupin go toe-to-toe with the Great Detective himself. There were copyright issues, though, and in future appearances he showed up as Herlock Sholmes, fooling nobody but appeasing the law. Imagine...all that crossover fanfic on the web has a legit source...

This is an excellent read, and on the Required Reading shelf. This is available in cheap editions, and can be downloaded for free from the 'net. There are also good audio versions available. "The Classic Tales" podcast did a version a while back that may still be available. You owe it to yourself to become acquainted with Arsene Lupin. Go do it now.