Nos quatro contos presentes neste livro, o criador de Arsène Lupin dá a medida completa de sua engenhosa inventividade e seu excepcional talento como contador de histórias. Em O anel de esmeralda, as origens da trama são apenas psicológicas, que o romancista põe em cena, com delicadeza e um toque de ironia. Em O homem da pele de cabra faz uma homenagem a Edgar Allan Poe. Retomando o tema de Assassinatos na rua Morgue, o autor traz uma narrativa que combina horror e humor em cada linha! Quem roubou a mais valiosa tapeçaria em O mistério da tapeçaria furtada? O primeiro golpe da carreira de Arsène Lupin está em O cofre de Madame Imbert. Para ler de um só fôlego!
Maurice Leblanc (1864 - 1941) was a French novelist, best known as the creator of gentleman thief (later detective) Arsène Lupin.
Leblanc began as a journalist, until he was asked to write a short story filler, and created, more gallant and dashing than English counterpart Sherlock Holmes.
This short book is Leblanc doing Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts : the stories in it are really condensed, like small droplets, and filled with references, both internal and external to the franchise : the first story explores the (by then) revolutionary ideas of Freudian slips (which I found amusing) and makes references to the L'Agence Barnett & Cie. that will be title of a later novel ; the second is an homage to Edgar Allan Poe's *The Murders on Rue Morgue*, with the same (for today's standards) weak conclusion--although here it sounds more plausible (and maybe more contemporary) than in Poe's ; finally, the third brings back Sonia Krichnoff (from the play **Arsène Lupin, a Play in Four Acts** and Lupin's bravest huntsman Ganimard. The fourth story is not new : it was published previously in Leblanc's debut book **The Gentleman-Thief** and supposedly is the first adventure where Arsène Lupin used his name--but it is fun just because of this curiosity, not much because of the plot or suspense (it is actually more comical and adventure).
It may be a nice bonus track to hardcore fans of the franchise like me (I now thought of Pixar short films using the characters of the main movies), but maybe not a good starting point for the casual reader.