Cat O'nine Tales and Other Stories
Book - 2007
Baker & Taylor
A collection of short stories features one dozen pieces that include "The Red King," "The Commissioner," and "Charity Begins at Home."
McMillan Palgrave
Baker
& Taylor
A fifth collection of short stories by the best-selling author of False Impressions features one dozen pieces that include the tales "The Red King," "The Commissioner," and "Charity Begins at Home." 200,000 first printing.
A collection of short stories features one dozen pieces that include "The Red King," "The Commissioner," and "Charity Begins at Home."
McMillan Palgrave
Cat o'Nine Tales is the fifth collection of irresistible short stories from the master storyteller. Ingeniously plotted, with richly drawn characters and Jeffrey Archer's trademark of deliciously unexpected conclusions, this new collection has the added bonus of thirteen charming illustrations by the internationally acclaimed artist Ronald Searle.
Some of these twelve stories were inspired by the two years Jeffrey Archer spent in prison, including the story of a company chairman who tries to poison his wife while on a trip to St. Petersburg---with unexpected consequences. "The Red King" is a tale about a con man who discovers that an English lord requires one more chess piece to complete a set that would be worth a fortune. In another tale of deception, "The Commissioner," a Bombay con artist ends up in the morgue after he uses the police chief as bait in his latest scam. "The Perfect Murder" reveals how a convict manages to remove an old enemy while he's locked up in jail, and then set up two prison officers as his alibi. In "Charity Begins at Home," an accountant realizes he has achieved nothing in his life, and sets out to make a fortune before he retires. And then there is Archer's favorite, "In the Eye of the Beholder," in which a handsome star athlete falls in love with a three-hundred-pound woman . . . who happens to be the ninth-richest woman in Italy.
Jeffrey Archer is the only author to have topped international bestseller lists with his fiction, nonfiction, and short stories. Cat o'Nine Tales is Archer at his best: witty, poignant, sad, surprising, and unforgettable.
Some of these twelve stories were inspired by the two years Jeffrey Archer spent in prison, including the story of a company chairman who tries to poison his wife while on a trip to St. Petersburg---with unexpected consequences. "The Red King" is a tale about a con man who discovers that an English lord requires one more chess piece to complete a set that would be worth a fortune. In another tale of deception, "The Commissioner," a Bombay con artist ends up in the morgue after he uses the police chief as bait in his latest scam. "The Perfect Murder" reveals how a convict manages to remove an old enemy while he's locked up in jail, and then set up two prison officers as his alibi. In "Charity Begins at Home," an accountant realizes he has achieved nothing in his life, and sets out to make a fortune before he retires. And then there is Archer's favorite, "In the Eye of the Beholder," in which a handsome star athlete falls in love with a three-hundred-pound woman . . . who happens to be the ninth-richest woman in Italy.
Jeffrey Archer is the only author to have topped international bestseller lists with his fiction, nonfiction, and short stories. Cat o'Nine Tales is Archer at his best: witty, poignant, sad, surprising, and unforgettable.
Baker
& Taylor
A fifth collection of short stories by the best-selling author of False Impressions features one dozen pieces that include the tales "The Red King," "The Commissioner," and "Charity Begins at Home." 200,000 first printing.
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Publisher:
New York : St. Martin's Press, c2007
ISBN:
9780312362645
0312362641
0312362641
Branch Call Number:
FIC Arche
Characteristics:
ix, 254 p.
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Liber_vermis
Nov 01, 2019
… The Kennington Set, as [the cautious burglar] Max went on to explain, was in fact a chess set. But no ordinary chess set … The pieces were probably crafted by Lu Ping (1469-1540), a master craftsman of the Ming Dynasty … Three complete sets were known to be in existence. … one Captain James Kennington (1552-1618), a true adventurer, buccaneer, and loyal servant of Queen Elizabeth I … rescued the first [chess] set in 1588 … on returning to Plymouth, Captain Kennington lavished treasure on his monarch. Her Majesty … rewarded Captain Kennington with a knighthood. The only difference between a pirate and a peer is who you divide the spoils with.”
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Add a CommentMany of these vignettes came to Jeffrey Archer's attention while he was in prison for two years for perjury that overturned a defamation suit that resulted in Archer returning $750,000 (according to the Wikipedia entry). The story "Charity Begins at Home" should be compulsory reading for all politicians in British Columbia. The adage "behind every successful man is a strong woman" is demonstrated in the tale of cigarette smuggling "Know What I Mean?"