The Hollow Needle is one of Maurice Leblanc’s best-known novels. In it the famous gentleman-burglar and master of disguises Arsène Lupin finds himself playing an intense game of cat and mouse with the young, surprisingly apt amateur-detective Isidore Beautrelet. Old foes Detective Ganimard and the famous English detective Holmlock Shears (so renamed to avoid copyright infringement) also make appearances. Lupin is chasing the most valuable object he has ever had the opportunity to steal: the Hollow Needle, which hides unfathomable treasure and a secret that the kings of France have been handing down since the time of Julius Caesar. Lupin has been depicted in countless film and stage adaptions, most recently as the inspiration of the Netflix series, Lupin, starring Omar Sy. This Warbler Classics edition includes a detailed chronology of Leblanc’s life and work, as well as the eulogy he wrote for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Despre autor
Maurice Leblanc (1864-1947) was a French writer best known for creating the fictional character of Arsène Lupin. Lupin’s first appearance in Je sais tout, a French periodical, heralded the arrival of the most captivating crook of the literary world. Leblanc would go on to feature his masterful thief in novels and short stories for the next thirty years. Leblanc once said, ‘Lupin follows me everywhere. He is not my shadow. I am his shadow.’