7 h 18 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 18 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the most charming guest in the house is also the man planning to rob it?
A. J. Raffles plays fine cricket, moves easily through London's best houses, and steals for skill, style, and the thrill. In E. W. Hornung's A Thief in the Night, his old schoolfellow Bunny Manders tells their further adventures. A jewel, a rare object, or money becomes a target. Then comes the plan—and the risk of being caught.
These short tales turn on charm, nerve, and contests of wits. Bunny follows Raffles with open admiration, but his conscience troubles him. Inspector Mackenzie's suspicion hangs over their world, where clubs, country houses, and rules of honour sit uneasily beside theft. Each adventure asks a pointed question: why do we like a man who steals?
What you’ll discover
- Charm with a dangerous edge Meet a welcome guest whose easy manners conceal the nerve of a burglar.
- Bunny's divided loyalties Follow a devoted friend caught between admiration for Raffles and his own uneasy conscience.
- Small contests of wits Enjoy tight adventures built around a tempting target, a daring plan, and a reckoning.
- The law close behind Feel the pressure of Scotland Yard's suspicion as the pair pursue their risky game.
- Honour among gentleman thieves Explore a world where social grace and criminal daring make uncomfortable companions.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you love clever heists, Victorian and Edwardian London, cricket and club life, and a charming rogue with his anxious sidekick.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Bunny loves the man he exposes
- A burglary crosses Bunny's private life
- Bunny's worry becomes part of the plan
- Respectability gives Raffles room to deceive
- Bunny's kindness interrupts his own burglary
- Bunny's old home awakens his conscience
- Raffles risks entering his own legend
- Friendship holds their opposing impulses together
Who’s who
- A. J. RafflesA famous cricketer and a gentleman burglar who plans every crime with wit, risks his neck for his friend and tells him only half the plan.
- BunnyThe narrator, Raffles's anxious and loyal partner, who loves the man, resents the secrecy and keeps being drawn back into crime.
- Colonel CrutchleyA prison inspector and Victoria Cross winner whose empty Campden Hill house Raffles borrows, and who comes home early with a revolver.
- Lord ThornabyA wealthy earl who leads a club of crime students and invites Raffles to dinner, hoping to catch a famous thief.
- Nipper NasmythA prickly old schoolfellow and banker who opposes the fund for the founder's statue and vows to give nothing.
- Barney MaguireA loud American heavyweight boxer who boasts of a trap for burglars in his Half Moon Street house.
- MedlicottA young man with asthma, brother of the bride, who befriends Bunny during a bad night at East Molesey.
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A Thief in the Night: Further Adventures of A. J. Raffles
by E. W. Hornung · 1905
A gentleman thief and his loyal friend crack safes, dodge detectives and hide in a silver chest across London.
Medium level2–5 hours to read16 languages
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“There’s no night like tonight!”
In short
Picture a young man crouched in a coat cupboard under the stairs of a grand London house, listening as the girl he loves sends the police upstairs to save him. He is Bunny, and his friend and partner in crime is A. J. Raffles, a gentleman cricketer by day and a burglar by night.
A Thief in the Night: Further Adventures of A. J. Raffles at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 15 min3 h 20 min fast, 5 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 60,600 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1905by E. W. Hornung
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A night in Palace Gardens costs Bunny everything
In Out of Paradise, Bunny is miserable. He has written to end his secret engagement, because he cannot face the girl after the crimes he has committed. Over dinner he tells Raffles about her and the grand house in Palace Gardens where she lives.
Raffles listens kindly, then asks about the window fastenings. He says her guardian's name is no longer known there, so the house is fair game. Bunny gives the plan and insists on coming along. The two drill into the study at night. Then someone creeps down the stairs with a candle, and it is the girl herself, in a ball gown. A hammering at the door sends Raffles out through the window and leaves Bunny trapped. She pulls him into a cupboard, sends the searchers upstairs and tells him to run.
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Details
- First published
- 1905
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Hornung, E. W. A Thief in the Night: Further Adventures of A. J. Raffles. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-thief-in-the-night-further-adventures-of-a-j-raffles.
Hornung, E. W. (2026). A thief in the night: Further adventures of A. J. Raffles. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-thief-in-the-night-further-adventures-of-a-j-raffles (Original work published 1905)
Hornung, E. W. A Thief in the Night: Further Adventures of A. J. Raffles. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-thief-in-the-night-further-adventures-of-a-j-raffles.
@book{hornung2026thief,
author = {Hornung, E. W.},
title = {A Thief in the Night: Further Adventures of A. J. Raffles},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-thief-in-the-night-further-adventures-of-a-j-raffles},
note = {First published 1905}
}
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What is A Thief in the Night by E. W. Hornung about?
It is a collection of ten pieces about A. J. Raffles, a cricketer who is also a burglar, told by his friend Bunny. The stories take them from London houses to a school reunion and Scotland Yard.
Who is Bunny and who is Raffles?
Raffles is the famous amateur cricketer and gentleman thief who plans most of their jobs. Bunny is his loyal young friend and partner, who tells the stories and admires Raffles while resenting his secrecy.
Do I need to read the earlier Raffles books first?
No. The narrator says he is going back to the early days to fill in what was left out, and each tale stands alone with a clear plan, a snag and an escape.
The author
E. W. Hornung
1866–1921 · English crime novelist
Ernest William Hornung (1866–1921) was a British writer born in Middlesbrough, England. He lived in Australia from 1884 to 1886 before returning to England. He wrote the Raffles stories, including The Amateur Cracksman (1899) and A Thief in the Night (1905). He died in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France.
“There’s no night like tonight!”
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