The Hollow Needle

Further Adventures of Arsène Lupin (The Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Book 3)

By: Maurice Leblanc

Narrated by: Mark Meadows

In the third installment of the Arsène Lupin series, we find our gentleman burglar up against Isidore Beautrelet, a young but gifted amateur detective who is determined to foil Lupin once and for all. As he hunts down the Hollow Needle, a needle that contains secrets that have been passed down from French kinds since Julius Caesar, Beautrelet is never too far behind.

©2014 Maurice Leblanc (P)2022 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Convoluted

I liked the concept of the Hollow Needle mystery and the “history” of it within France’s own history, but there was so much additional plot and exposition that really convoluted the story. The ending even seemed quite abrupt, not really tying off some plot lines.
I thought the narrator did a good job reading for multiple characters though.

Beware

Arsene, in this book, is substituted for an infallible boy genius detective that makes him look silly at every turn. If that's not bad enough he writes Arsene in a way he's never been before. Arsene here is sloppy, doesn't know when to cut his losses and utterly obsessed with a singular woman to the point he almost destroys his operation. This might have been to have people buy into the series at one point given the Sherlock Holmes hype at the time and LeBlanc's lawsuit, but this marks where the series departs into a bland new world.