I liked the first two chapters and the last two chapters, which focused more on the characters. Had trouble paying attention to all the whodunit hijinks in the middle.

Readers used to the Arsène Lupin short stories may find this a bit of bore with plots within plots and Arsène being Arsène bragging and peacocking but it also has more character development of Arsène with him being firmly established as anti-hero even when he want to be a hero. Without giving away the plot the ending was worth it. Readers may think the story full of tropes and it certainly shares storylines with Sherlock Holmes but for a piece written in between 1900-1910 it would have been considered timely and full of interesting social details. It's not as chauvanistic as other works of the time but it's still of it's time and full of stereotypes and beliefs of that time.

I'm usually a fan of Arsène Lupin but this time the absurdity was annoying.

The infamous thief Arsene Lupin is a sort of Scarlet Pimpernel crossed with Moriarty. It's a short, fast-paced detective story told from the investigator's perspective. Unfortunately, Lupin's identity is clear very early in the book, and the investigating is of the most rudimentry sort. Eventually we meet Lupin's gang, who I like best of everyone in the book, and the love interest, who I don't like at all.

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