The Privy Council met at ten on the following morning, and ordered a new seal to be engraved; but at noon a postal packet was delivered at Shipley House, which, on being opened, disclosed an old biscuit tin, then tissue paper, then cotton-wool, and finally the Great Seal of the United Kingdom.
— Henry A. Hering, "The Great Seal"
After some determined research, I can say with a goodly amount of confidence that Brom Bones Books now offers something never before available: all eighteen of Henry A. Hering’s stories about the Burglars’ Club in a single volume.
The first twelve adventures were run in Cassell’s Magazine in 1904-1905. These were then reprinted as a book, one popular enough to be translated in several languages. But apparently Hering itched to divulge more about this organization comprised of good-hearted rogues. You see, the Club is made up of aristocrats who were so bored that they began to gather and dare one another to commit specific, quirky burglaries. Risking imprisonment along with the ruin of reputation, they consider it all a type of sport. It’s an intriguing premise, and in 1909-1910, Hering penned another six adventures for Cassell’s. As I say, the entire 18-installment series is collected — at along last — in The Complete Crimes of the Burglars’ Club.
I found this to be among the most flat-out fun selections in the Curated Crime Collection. Hering knew how to make his characters engaging and keep his plots crisp. While Grant Allen infuses The Curate of Churnside & An African Millionaire with a dark, sardonic sense of humor, Hering keeps his light. At times, I snorted out loud while proofreading at the coffee shop. Take, for instance, when one club member breaks into the office of Sir John Carder with the assignment to pilfer some of that man’s “exceptionally fine cigars.” The thief easily accomplishes his task late one night—despite coming upon his victim still at his desk. On hearing that Sir John is about to commit suicide due to financial disaster, however, our thief does what only the most gracious of criminals would do:
He plunged his hand into his pocket, and produced the box of cigars. 'Try one of these,' he said, offering them to Sir John. 'I can recommend 'em for big occasions.'
Things generally turn out well in these tales, although at least one sticky complication always seems to arise during every crime. And, as the epigraph above suggests, the Club’s rules hold that all stolen items be returned within a day or two. Hering’s artistic goal is simply to entertain, not to provide an authentic picture of the causes and consequences of crime, something one finds in, say, Josiah Flynt’s The Rise of Ruderick Clowd. (Flynt’s realistic novel, by the way, is paired with Mariam Michelson’s In the Bishop’s Carriage in another volume of the Curated Crime Collection.) That said, there might be some subtle social satire here, whether it’s ribbing the upper crust outright or revealing the class disparity in how crime is understood and punished.
You’ll find more about The Complete Crimes of the Burglars’ Club on this page. Nose around a bit, and you’ll find those volumes spotlighting Allen, Flynt, and Michelson.
— Tim
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