¿Dónde está la frontera entre la culpabilidad y la inocencia? Solo un escritor como Jeffrey Archer es capaz de imprimir en las conciencias un sentimiento tan complejo como la duda. Puede un convicto confesar su culpabilidad y conseguir que se desee su libertad, que se crea en su inocencia? Este es el dilema que presenta uno de los doce relatos, manifestación de talento y elegancia narrativa, que, inspirados en historias inolvidables de personajes reales, abordan la cuestión de la delincuencia: entre el engaño y la estafa, entre el asesinato y el robo, estos maravillosos relatos guían al lector por los laberintos de un mundo paralelo y subterráneo. Pero al tiempo muestran el lado más humano de sus protagonistas, culpables, pero no tanto. Aunque algunas de estas historias fueron conocidas por el autor tras su puesta en libertad, la mayoría lo fueron durante su estancia en prisión, lo que les da una unidad de fondo. Todas confirman a Archer como uno de los mejores creadores de relatos cortos de la actualidad. Las ilustraciones del inigualable Ronald Searle representan un valor añadido a esta edición.

Criminal Minds meet writer in prison. I like it but I'm not rereading it.
Nigeria was mentioned.

I take it back. I have just reread it. It is quite good. ( )

Great short stories. ( )

Great short stories. ( )

Another impressive set of short stories, a couple really almost novellas.
Beautifully and cleverly narrated.
I really am hooked on Archer's short stories.

The list of stories
The Man who Robbed his own Post Office
Maestro
Don’t Drink the Water
It Can’t Be October Already
The Red King
The Wisdom of Solomon
Know What I Mean?
Charity Begins at Home
The Alibi
A Greek Tragedy
The Commissioner
In The Eye of the Beholder

They range from a tale of ‘The Man Who Robbed His Own Post Office’, to the story of a company chairman who tried to poison his wife while on a trip to St Petersburg – both with unexpected consequences. In another, ‘Maestro’, an Italian restaurateur ends up in jail, unable to explain to the tax man how he can own a yacht, a Ferrari and a home in Florence, while only declaring a profit of £70,000 a year.

‘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 Alibi’ 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 total contrast is the accountant, who, in ‘Charity Begins at Home’, realises he has achieved nothing in his life, and sets out to make a fortune before he retires.

And then there is Archer’s favourite, which he came across after leaving prison, ‘In the Eye of the Beholder’, where a handsome premier division footballer falls in love with a 20-stone woman … who just happens to be the ninth richest woman in Italy. - this extract from Archer's website. ( )