E. W. Hornung

Ernest William Hornung was born in Middlesbrough, England, in 1866. After a childhood spent in Australia for his health, he returned to England and began writing novels and short stories. His most enduring creation is A. J. Raffles, a cricketer and gentleman burglar who first appeared in "The Amateur Cracksman" (1899). Hornung, who was the brother-in-law of Arthur Conan Doyle, deliberately crafted Raffles as a foil to Sherlock Holmes, exploring crime from the criminal's perspective with charm and moral ambiguity. The character proved immensely popular, leading to sequels such as "The Black Mask" (1901) and "A Thief in the Night" (1905). Hornung also wrote adventure novels and war poetry, but his literary legacy rests on the Raffles series, which influenced the development of the anti-hero in crime fiction. He served as a war correspondent and later in the YMCA during World War I, and died in France in 1921.