Crystal Stopper

Two men face the guillotine. One is guilty of murder, the other merely foolish enough to fall in with Lupin's crew. But in Leblanc's twisting tale, guilt and innocence prove slippery things, especially when a ruthless blackmailer holds the threads that could save or destroy everything. Deputy Daubrecq is a man worth robbing, wealthy and corrupt, his secrets worth killing for. When the burglary goes wrong and blood is spilled, Lupin finds himself racing not just against the police but against a far more dangerous adversary: a villain who has buried Daubrecq's darkest secret inside a crystal stopper, a tiny glass object that holds the power to topple empires. The thief must navigate betrayal, double-crosses, and his own complicated moral compass to prevent an innocent man from dying for a crime he didn't commit. This is Lupin at his most daring, blending heist thriller with courtroom tension and a mystery that refuses to stay solved. For readers who crave sophisticated adventure where the hero is a criminal and the true villains wear respectable faces.