The Minerva Club might look like any other London gentlemen’s club but behind its respectable and discreet façade, some of the most ambitious schemes for heists, money-making and evasion of the law are being worked out. It’s an exclusive club for criminals. Entry qualification: members must have served a prison sentence of two years minimum. Though the club’s criminal ventures don’t always go as planned…

From trying to break into an old prison cell and stealing a stash of jewels hidden during a previous incarceration, love getting in the way during a hideout from the police, a cleverly planned break-in being interrupted by an unexpected guest, to figuring out where to steal a last-minute wedding cake – the club’s amiable criminals somehow always achieve their goal in the most surprising ways.

This collection of five short stories follows the Minerva Club’s (mis)adventures and evokes the very best of humorous classic crime fiction.

Praise for Victor Canning:

‘His gift of story-telling is obviously innate. Rarely does one come on so satisfying an amalgam of plot, characterisation and good writing.’ Punch

‘Quite delightful … with an atmosphere of quiet contentment and humour that cannot fail to charm.’ Daily Telegraph

‘A swift-moving novel, joyous, happy and incurably optimistic.’ Evening Standard

‘There is such a gentle humour in the book.’ Daily Sketch

‘What counts for most in the story … is his mounting pleasure in vagabondage and the English scene.’ The Times

‘A paean to the beauties of the English countryside and the lovable oddities of the English character.’ New York Times