Book Review: Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Thief by Maurice Leblanc (edited by Mike Kennedy)

My Rating:

4.5⭐

“Arsene Lupin, the man of a thousand disguises: in turn a chauffeur, a tenor, a bookmaker, a young boy; a teen, an old man, a commercial traveler, a Russian physician, a Spanish bullfighter….”

Admittedly, the first time I heard of Arsene Lupin was when the character and his adventures were referenced in the Netflix show Lupin. This collection covers nine interrelated stories (though they are just as good as standalone) revolving around the “gentleman thief” and his exploits and is a perfect introduction for new readers like me. Originally written in 1907, by author Maurice Leblanc, these are straightforward mysteries/adventures with intriguing plots, loads of humor and a very interesting main character. 

As Lupin’s “historiographer”(who also serves as narrator for some of the stories) states,

“His portrait? How could I describe him? Twenty times I have seen Arsene Lupin, and twenty times a different person has appeared to me …or rather, the same person from which twenty mirrors would have returned as many distorted images, each one having its own particular look, its own unique shape, its own gesture, its own silhouette and character.”

I had so much fun reading about Lupin and his numerous disguises, his creative methods of committing crimes and his besting the shrewd Detective Ganimard at every opportunity he gets. It is difficult to individually describe these stories without giving too much away but the narrative follows Lupin as he is arrested, escapes from prison and proceeds to con multiple victims (and is also duped by one of his marks in one rare instance) all the while evading capture by the authorities . I enjoyed most of the stories and my personal favorites were ”The Escape of Arsene Lupin”, “The Seven of Hearts” and “Madam Imbert’s Safe”. In addition to these stories, I must mention the final story in this collection in which we see our "gentleman thief" pitted against a ‘great English detective’!

Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Thief by Maurice Leblanc (edited by Mike Kennedy) is truly an enjoyable read! The illustrations (both black-and-white and full-color) by Vincent Mallié are absolutely wonderful and perfectly complement the narrative which flows smoothly.(The illustrations reminded me of Herge's Tintin books which I still love to read!) Fans of Sherlock Holmes would definitely enjoy these stories.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.