Book Review: Raffles: A Perfect Wicket
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]!