The Return of A J Raffles by Graham Greene

The Return of A J Raffles by Graham Greene

Raffles was a gentleman thief, invented by the early Edwardian author E W Hornung. Hornung killed off his creation by having him join the army and die fighting in the Boer War.

In 1975 however, Graham Greene decided that Raffles had faked his death and returned to England, to set out on one final crime with his friend Bunny. This is a radio adaptation of that play.

Set in the late summer of the year 1900, the story revolves around the infamous burglar and cricketer, A. J. Raffles—presumed dead in the Boer War—who returns to Albany where, with his friends Bunny and Lord Alfred Douglas, he plots to rob the Marquess of Queensberry, partly for the money and partly for revenge against the Marquess for his treatment of their friend Oscar Wilde. The robbery takes place at The Marquess' house in Hertfordshire, where Raffles and Bunny are interrupted by the Prince of Wales and a Scotland Yard detective, who discover the Prince's personal letters have also been stolen.