A Gentleman and a Thief
Diamonds are a man's best friend in true story of jazz-age rogue

A Gentleman and a Thief
Jeffrey Mannix - 10/03/2024

“A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue,” written by Dean Jobb and published by Algonquin Books in Chapel Hill, N.C., is billed as narrative nonfiction. It’s hard to decipher what narrative nonfiction means, but it’s safe to assume from the title that this book is forensic reporting in an anecdotal form. New to me, and probably new to readers of crime fiction.

We’ll let that simmer for a moment while we probe the possibilities of documenting crime of whatever nature by taking the facts of the exploit itself and writing something like a movie script. Actually, fictionalized murder, thievery or espionage cannot possibly be as finely drawn as the forensics of the real crime it depicts. So I volunteered to give “A Gentleman and a Thief” an evening read to find out if this should be brought to “Murder Ink” readers.  

The title is certainly seductive, and Algonquin Books has a history of taking gainful flings on offbeat subjects, with current otré titles like “Inciting Joy,” “The Healing Season of Pottery” and “The Museum of Failures.” So there’s a level of trust we can have in Algonquin, and by association with Robb, to paste together good drama from the fumes of police reports and veiled witness testimony.  

“A Gentleman and a Thief” is a pricy hardcover of 331 pages comprising eight delineated sections, 37 detailed heists performed by the most modest, charming and famous second-story burglar that ever lived. And if you’re skeptical of the verisimilitude of these exploits, 100 pages of endnotes sourcing every last piece of investigation, evidence, sensational news article and testimony follows the story.  

“A Gentleman and a Thief” is a treasure trove of Promethean daring from a man who was, in almost every case of missing heirloom jewelry, an invited and esteemed guest before and even after heists of irreplaceable diamonds.

A charming and unflappable thief to the end, Arthur Barry was a man we would all like as an uncle or even a partner. A man of enormous courage, poise and even compassion, he would work the townhomes of Manhattan, trendy mansions of Long Island and avant-garde homes of Westchester County in the 1920s. 

He’d arrive at night, make certain the family was asleep, borrow a ladder from somewhere, climb up to the master bedroom he had reconnoitered at a dinner party and quietly search the obvious places where the matriarch would keep her jewelry. He’d then climb back down the ladder, which he returned, and fence the irreplaceable jewels the next day in Manhattan. He grew rich.

It would be senseless to describe all of Barry’s capers, but in Jobb’s endnotes is a list of all his preeminent heists, including the value of the jewels stolen. You will know some of the victim’s names: Edwina and Louis Montbatten, cousin of the Prince of Wales, waking to find $170,000 of jewelry missing (worth millions in today’s valuation); Jessie Woolworth and husband, James Donahue, missing $700,000 of diamonds the morning after a lovely dinner party; Isabel and Percy Rockefeller, nephew of John D. Rockefeller, missing $25,000 of jewelry. 

On one midnight heist in a dark bedroom with sleeping owners, Barry quickly found the stash of jewelry, and on his way to exit, the woman of the house awoke. She approached Barry after just climbing out the window and asked if he would please leave behind the diamond necklace that had been bequeathed to her from a great grandmother and meant the world to her. He gave the necklace back, wished her goodnight and forfeited $50,000 in a gesture from the heart.

“A Gentleman and a Thief” is a book of amazing interest. The research alone is worth the price of the book, but the writing of such an incredible story in Jobb’s dramatic narrative is spellbinding and highly recommended for the studious reader.

Before I leave, and speaking of unvarnished true crime, I have been waiting for months to make a quick introduction to what certainly must be the most elaborate and gifted designed compendium of true crime the publishing industry hasn’t before seen. Thames & Hudson has published two books of illustrated murder maps for the collector of true crime murders. The first is titled “Murder Maps USA: Crime Scenes Revisited, Spanning 1865 - 1939.” The second is “Murder Maps: Crime Scenes Revisited throughout the world from 1811-1911,” including the introduction of phrenology and fingerprinting. 

There’s nothing more I can say about these prestigious offerings except that they are collectable treasures, with true Smyth signature stitched bindings, embossed boards and no price printed anywhere within. If you’re a collector of fine books and a fan of true crime and/or crime fiction, you will find treasures at Thames & Hudson.

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