The Eight Strokes of the Clock

What It's About

This collection gathers eight independent but linked short stories featuring Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief, operating here under the alias Prince Serge Rénine. Rénine strikes up an acquaintance with a young, unhappily married woman, Hortense Daniel, and proposes an unusual arrangement: over the course of three months, the two will investigate eight separate mysteries together, each one unfolding to the sound of a clock striking eight. The cases range across theft, disappearance, and murder, and as the pair work through them, Rénine's own motives for the arrangement gradually come into focus.

Key Concepts

Each story is a self-contained puzzle in the classic detective-fiction mould, built around close observation, misdirection, and a final twist. Running beneath the mystery format is a study of persuasion and courtship, as Rénine uses each solved case to draw Hortense further into his confidence. One story in particular, "Footprints in the Snow," has been noted for its unusually psychological treatment of a killer's motive, anticipating ideas more commonly associated with later crime fiction.

About the Author

Maurice Leblanc (1864–1941) was a French novelist and journalist from Rouen. After abandoning his law studies, he worked in Paris as a writer of short fiction before creating the character for which he became famous: Arsène Lupin, a gentleman thief who evolved over the course of the series into something closer to a detective. Leblanc was awarded the Légion d'Honneur for his services to literature.

About This Edition

This is a 1922 translation by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos.