A Gentleman and a Thief
The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue
OUTLINE OF THE BOOK
Catch Me If You Can meets The Great Gatsby meets the hit Netflix series Lupin in this captivating Jazz Age true-crime caper about "the greatest jewel thief who ever lived" (Life Magazine), Arthur Barry, who charmed celebrities and millionaires—everyone from Rockefellers to members of the royal family—while simultaneously planning and executing the most audacious and lucrative heists of the 1920s.
A skilled con artist and one of the most successful burglars in history, Arthur Barry was adept at slipping in and out of bedrooms undetected, even when his victims slept only inches away. He became a folk hero, a gentleman bandit touted in the press as the “Prince of Thieves” and an “Aristocrat of Crime.” Think Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief. In a span of seven years, Barry stole pearls, diamonds, and other precious gems worth almost $60 million today. Among his many victims were a Rockefeller, an heiress to the Woolworth Department Store fortune, an oil magnate, Wall Street bigwigs, a top executive of automotive giant General Motors, members of the Royal Family who were touring America, and a famous polo player. He befriended the Prince of Wales, Harry Houdini, and other luminaries. The rollicking, caper-filled rise and dramatic downfall of this master thief is a high-speed ride told in stylish prose.
A Gentleman and a Thief is also a love story. Barry confessed to dozens of burglaries to protect his wife, Anna Blake (and was the prime suspect in scores of others on Long Island and across Westchester County). Sentenced to a twenty-five-year term, he staged a dramatic prison break—triggering a bloody inmates' riot—when Anna became seriously ill, so they could be together for a few more years as fugitives. Page-turning, escapist, and sparkling with insight into the allure of gemstones and our fascination with well-planned heists and the suave, clever criminals who pull them off, A Gentleman and a Thief is perfect for true crime fans who relish the exploits of con artists and high-class crooks.
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About the author
Dean Jobb
I specialize in true crime and I'm drawn to overlooked or forgotten stories. My new book, A Gentleman and a Thief, coming in June 2024, tells the incredible story of Arthur Barry, one of the world’s most successful jewel thieves, who charmed the elite of 1920s New York, brazenly swiped gems worth millions of dollars from their posh country estates, and outfoxed the police and private detectives on his trail.
My previous books include The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream , winner of the inaugural CrimeCon CLUE Award for Best True Crime Book of 2021 and longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. It recreates Scotland Yard's hunt for a Victorian Era serial killer who murdered at least ten people in Britain, the U.S. and Canada. Empire of Deception, the rollicking tale of Chicago con man Leo Koretz and his amazing 1920s oil swindle, was the Chicago Writers Association's Nonfiction Book of the Year. Esquire proclaimed it one of the best biographies of all time.
I'm also the author of The Acadian Saga: A People's Story of Exile and Triumph , which chronicles the expulsion of French-speaking Acadians from Eastern Canada more than two centuries ago and the founding of Louisiana’s Cajun culture.
My books have won the Crime Writers of Canada Award for best true crime book and I have been a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize, Canada's top award for nonfiction.
My true crime column "Stranger Than Fiction" appears in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and I write book reviews and features for The Irish Times, CrimeReads, the Washington Independent Review of Books and other major publications. I'm a professor at the University of King’s College in Halifax and teach in the King's MFA in Creative Nonfiction program.
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