The Crystal Stopper
A botched heist, a mysterious artifact, and a desperate race to save two lives from the guillotine.

When a meticulously planned heist at a quiet lakeside villa goes disastrously wrong, a master thief finds himself caught in a lethal snare. Two of his most trusted men are arrested for murder, and the only key to saving them from the guillotine is a seemingly worthless object: a gilded crystal decanter stopper.As our antihero races against time to unravel the mystery, he comes face-to-face with his most formidable adversary yet—Alexis Daubrecq, a corrupt, blackmailing deputy who holds the secrets of the elite in his monstrous grip. Stripped of his usual advantages and betrayed by his own gang, the gentleman thief must navigate a treacherous labyrinth of political corruption, midnight assassinations, and agonizing betrayals.Written by Edward Richardson, The Crystal Stopper is a masterclass in suspense and deduction. Can the world's greatest criminal outwit a ruthless blackmailer before the executioner's blade falls? Dive into a high-stakes thriller where every shadow hides a spy, and every tick of the clock brings a desperate young man closer to the scaffold.