Meet the Baron (1937 novel)

Meet the Baron is a 1937 adventure-romance novel by British author John Creasey about playboy John Mannering who becomes a jewel thief, alias the Baron, after he nearly goes broke. It was Creasey's first novel under the pseudonym Anthony Morton.

Plot Summary

The novel begins when playboy John Mannering is jilted by Marie Overndon after she finds out he is really not rich after all. Mannering, who has been gambling excessively already, abandons himself to it even more, despite the warnings of his lawyer friend, Tobias Plender, who says that if Mannering does not watch out he'll go broke, not knowing that Mannering even then is just down to 1,000£. Mannering is invited at a horse race to have dinner with his obsessive-jewel-collecting friend Lord Fauntley, and at the dinner meets Fauntley's daughter Lorna, with whom Mannering starts to fall in love.
After dinner, Mannering is shown by Lord and Lady Fauntley into their strongroom, where Fauntley keeps his jewels (Fauntley boasting all the while how impregnable it is, but unintentionally showing Mannering exactly how to break in), and Mannering forms the idea of stealing Fauntley's jewels out of the safe which Fauntley has accidentally shown him how to get into. After leaving, Mannering purchases a blue mask, and a handkerchief with the initials "T. B." on it, intending to leave it as a "clue" for the police, and breaks into Fauntley's strongroom through the window, and knocking the guard out with a gas-pistol he has bought. But, breaking into the safe, Mannering discovers that practically all the gems are to Lorna from Lord Fauntley, and therefore of sentimental value, and so Mannering does not steal very much at all. As he attempts to escape, Mannering sees Lorna, who has come in, and disguises his voice (he is wearing his blue mask) so not to let her recognize him. The next day, Mannering gets into a fiasco at jewel fence Levy Schmidt's, having to knock out Schmidt and Chief Inspector William Bristow of Scotland Yard, but he develops there his alias, signing a form in unidentifiable block letters "T. Baron". In the next few weeks Mannering goes to a series of fancy parties, stealing things from a great many very wealthy people, and bewildering Bristow, while pretending he is winning his money at gambling.
Mannering learns to pick locks, by pretending he can't open several safes, from fence Charlie Dray. At one time Mannering pretends to be interested in buying the Rosa pearls from the despicable Septimus Lee, who has got them illegally himself, but instead robs Lee of the jewels the night after. Lee, suspecting, does a great many things to substantiate his suspicion Mannering is "the Baron", as the police now call him, instead of "T. Baron", but all in vain, Mannering even finding out that Lee is also Levy Schmidt, which is just an alias. The Baron, in disguise, sells the jewels to part-time fence Dicker Grayson.
Mannering goes to the wedding of Marie Overndon with a rich man, and at it the Duchess of Kenton's wedding present (jewels of course) get stolen by someone appearing to try to frame the Baron, not being Mannering, the prime suspects being American jewel-collecting-addict Gerry Long, and even, to some extent, the elderly Duchess herself. Later, Long almost commits suicide, though he didn't do it, but Mannering saves him, and Mannering, as the Baron, writes a public declaration, which he puts in a conspicuous place, that he did not steal the jewels. Mannering grows curious when Lorna asks him for a good deal of money, and seems to, though liking him, to not want marriage mentioned.
Mannering plans to rob wealthy foreigner Carlos Ramon, while Ramon as at a masquerade; so Mannering purposely picks a costume a good deal of other people have, and changes before robbing Ramon's rented place. But Mannering finds some guards there, one whom he has to knock out, therefore getting a wound, and goes back to the masquerade, where he puts back on his costume, but Lorna notices the wound and insists that Mannering go home, she accompanying him to take care of him. Lorna, the next morning, becomes aware that Mannering is the Baron, and then Mannering receives a visit from Inspector Bristow. Bristow finds out that Mannering is the Baron from the bullet on the table, but which Mannering manages to throw out the window to a greatful Gerry Long, who he managed to call, and Long gets rid of the bullet. In the ensuing fight, Mannering saves Bristow's life, and Bristow loses all proof, except his own knowledge, that Mannering is the Baron. After Bristow leaves, Lorna reveals that she stole the Duchess's present, as she is already married to a man called Rennigan, who is blackmailing her to keep silent, thus her want of money.

Characters

Principle characters in bold.
John Mannering, alias The Baron: a reckless, slightly frivolous playboy, who, after straining "the flesh-pots" to the limit, and becomes a jewel-thief, partly for money, and partly because he likes the thrill.
Lorna Fauntley: Daughter of Lord Fauntley, who Mannering falls in love with; she is already married, though, to Rennigan, who blackmails her to keep silent.
Chief Inspector William Bristow of Scotland Yard: a dapper, middle-aged Scotland Yard detective whose want of catching the Baron borders on obsession.
Lord Fauntley: Lorna's father; a small, elderly, obsessive jewel-collector.
Lady Fauntley: Lorna's mother.
Colonel George Belton: an elderly colonel, with a habit of saying the wrong thing it the right time; rather in love with Lady Mary Overndon.
Lady Mary Overndon: mother of Marie Overndon; an elderly woman whose taste in clothes "would have been fashionable thirty years since". The first character introduced.
Septimus Lee, alias Levy Schmidt: a despicable, villainous man.
Gerry Long: A young American jewel-collector.
Marie Overndon: Lady Mary's daughter; a gold-digger.

Film Adaptations

McDonald Productions released a film adaptation, Meet the Baron, in 1938, starring Leslie Howard as John Mannering, Myrna Loy as Lorna Fauntley, and George Sanders as Chief Inspector William Bristow, with James Stewart as Gerry Long, Max Davidson as Septimus Lee, and Roland Young as Lord Fauntley. A television series, The Baron (TV series) was made in the 1960s, though it significantly departed from the book series.

Inspiration

The genre of the gentleman thief was popular at the time, being first introduced by E. W. Hornung's Raffles stories.

Sequels

John Creasey was a very prolific writer, and often wrote many sequels to his books, Meet the Baron included. Creasey wrote 49 sequels to it, including The Baron Returns (1937), Alias the Baron (1939), The Baron and the Chinese Puzzle (1965), etc.

Reception

The book received mostly favorable reviews, but critic T. S. Eliot did not particularly like it. "Morton's novel is blatent plagiarism," he wrote, "and this genre needs to die: if this, like most others of its genre, receives sequels, they will undoubtedly be ignored."

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