The Teeth of the Tiger

What It's About

When the wealthy philanthropist Cosmo Mornington dies, he leaves his fortune to be divided among a group of distant heirs, with his old friend Don Luis Perenna named as executor. But before the inheritance can be settled, the heirs begin dying, one after another, in circumstances that point to Perenna himself. Perenna, better known under another name entirely, must uncover the truth behind a shadowy conspiracy calling itself "the teeth of the tiger" before he is convicted of crimes he did not commit, and before the woman he loves becomes its next victim.

Key Concepts

This is one of the darker, more emotionally complicated entries in the Arsène Lupin series, set during the First World War. Rather than the untouchable master criminal of earlier books, Lupin appears here as a more fallible and vulnerable figure, genuinely at risk and genuinely in love. The novel plays with disguise and false identity throughout, and weighs personal justice against the formal machinery of the law.

About the Author

Maurice Leblanc (1864–1941) was a French novelist and journalist, best remembered as the creator of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman-thief who became one of French popular fiction's most enduring characters.

About This Edition

This is a 1914 translation by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos.