The caper story is a subgenre of

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...

. The typical caper story involves one or more crimes (especially thefts, swindles, or occasionally kidnappings) perpetrated by the main characters in full view of the reader. The actions of police or detectives attempting to prevent or solve the crimes may also be chronicled, but are not the main focus of the story. The caper story is distinguished from the straight crime story by elements of humor, adventure, or unusual cleverness or audacity. The main characters often have comical idiosyncrasies and the law enforcement individuals are characterized by ineptitude or inadequacies. The criminals comically plan a crime with details unnecessary for the nature of the crime, and humour is created when their personalities clash and their quirks are exposed. For instance, the Dortmunder stories of Donald E. Westlake are highly comic tales involving unusual thefts by a gang of offbeat characters—in different stories Dortmunder's gang steals the same gem several times, steals an entire branch bank, and kidnaps someone from an asylum by driving a stolen train onto the property. By contrast, the same author's Parker stories (published under the name Richard Stark) are grimly straightforward accounts of mundane crime—the criminal equivalent of the

police procedural The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...

. Others, such as

Lawrence Block Lawrence Block (born June 24, 1938) is an American crime writer best known for two long-running New York-set series about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and the gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. Block was named a Grand Ma ...

Bernie Rhodenbarr Bernie Rhodenbarr is the protagonist of the ''Burglar'' series of comic mystery novels by Lawrence Block. He first appeared in ''Burglars Can't Be Choosers'', published in 1977; as of 2024, he has appeared in twelve novels by Block, as well as ...

novels, feature a role reversal, an honest criminal and crooked cop, and the use of

burglar Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) or housebreaking, is a property crime involving trespass to land, the illegal entry into a building or other area without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal ...

Rhodenbarr's criminal talents to solve murders. A caper may appear as a subplot in a larger work. For example,

Tom Sawyer Thomas "Tom" Sawyer () is the title character of the Mark Twain novel '' The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876). He appears in three other novels by Twain: '' Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884), '' Tom Sawyer Abroad'' (1894), and '' Tom Sawy ...

's plot to steal Jim out of slavery in the last part of ''

Huckleberry Finn Huckleberry "Huck" Finn is a fictional character created by Mark Twain who first appeared in the book ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876) and is the protagonist and narrator of its sequel, '' Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884). He is 12 ...

'' is a classic caper.

Etymology

The verb ''to caper'' means to leap in a frolicsome way, and probably derives from ''capriole'', which derives from the Latin for

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

('' Capra''). The noun ''caper''Caper; definition 3
from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary means a frolicsome leap, a capricious escapade or an illegal or questionable act.

Examples

Literature

* ''

Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar ''Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar'' () is the first collection of stories by Maurice Leblanc recounting the adventures of Arsène Lupin, released on 10 June 1907. It contains the first nine stories depicting the character, first published in the ...

'' (1907) by

Maurice Leblanc Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (; ; 11 December 1864 – 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French ...

* "

The Ransom of Red Chief "The Ransom of Red Chief" is a short story by O. Henry first published in the July 6, 1907 issue of ''The Saturday Evening Post''. It follows two men who kidnap and demand a ransom for a wealthy man's son. Eventually, the men are overwhelmed by t ...

" (1910) by

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the Ma ...

: two kidnappers find that the little boy they are holding for ransom is more dangerous than the law * early stories of " The Saint" (beginning in 1928) by

Leslie Charteris Leslie Charteris (; born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin; 12 May 1907 – 15 April 1993), was a British-Chinese author of adventure fiction, as well as a screenwriter.W. R. Burnett William Riley Burnett (November 25, 1899 April 25, 1982) was an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for the crime novel ''Little Caesar'', the film adaptation of which is considered the first of the classic American gangster mo ...

, adapted for film in 1950, 1958, 1963 and 1972 * novels by John Boland such as ''

The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a British surreal comedy horror series that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives ...

'' (1958) and '' The Golden Fleece'' (1961) * '' The Light of Day'' (1962) by

Eric Ambler Eric Clifford Ambler OBE (28 June 1909 – 23 October 1998) was an English author of thrillers, in particular spy novels, who introduced a new realism to the genre. Also working as a screenwriter, Ambler used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for books ...

(filmed as '' Topkapi'') * the ''

Modesty Blaise ''Modesty Blaise'' is a British comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by author Peter O'Donnell and illustrator Jim Holdaway in 1963. The strip follows Modesty Blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talen ...

'' stories (beginning in 1963) of

Peter O'Donnell Peter O'Donnell (11 April 1920 – 3 May 2010) was an English writer of mysteries and of comic strips, best known as the creator of '' Modesty Blaise'', an action heroine/undercover trouble-shooter. He was also an award-winning gothic h ...

* the

John Dortmunder John Archibald Dortmunder is a fictional character created by Donald E. Westlake. He is the protagonist of 14 novels and 11 short stories published between 1970 and 2009. He first appeared in the novel ''The Hot Rock'', published in 1970. Westla ...

series (beginning in 1970) and other novels by Donald E. Westlake * ''Sledgehammer'' (1971) by Walter Wager * ''A Tough One to Lose'' (1972) by Tony Kenrick * '' The Taking of Pelham One Two Three'' (1973) by John Godey— a subway car is hijacked and held for ransom * '' The Great Train Robbery'' (1975) by

Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author, screenwriter and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavil ...

* ''Stealing Lillian'' (1975) by Tony Kenrick * ''The Seven Day Soldiers'' (1976) by Tony Kenrick * ''Faraday's Flowers'' (1978) — adapted as ''

Shanghai Surprise ''Shanghai Surprise'' is a 1986 adventure comedy film directed by Jim Goddard and starring then-newlyweds Sean Penn and Madonna. The screenplay was adapted by John Kohn and Robert Bentley from Tony Kenrick's 1978 novel ''Faraday's Flowers''. ...

'' * ''Two Lucky People'' (1981) by Tony Kenrick * '' Swindle'' (2008) By

Gordon Korman Gordon Korman (born October 23, 1963) is a Canadian author of children's and young adult fiction books. Korman's books have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide over a career spanning four decades and have appeared at number one on ''The N ...

* '' Mistborn: The Final Empire'' (2006) By

Brandon Sanderson Brandon Winn Sanderson (born December19, 1975) is an American author of high fantasy, science fiction, and young adult books. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the '' Mistb ...

* ''

The Lies of Locke Lamora ''The Lies of Locke Lamora'' is a 2006 fantasy novel by American writer Scott Lynch, the first book of the '' Gentleman Bastard'' series. Elite con artists calling themselves the "Gentleman Bastards" rob the rich of the city of Camorr, based on ...

'' (2006) by Scott Lynch * '' Heist Society'' (2010) by Ally Carter * Most books by

Janet Evanovich Janet Evanovich (née Schneider; April 22, 1943) is an American writer. She began her career writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall, but gained fame authoring a series of contemporary mysteries featuring Stepha ...

Film

Television

* ''Now You See It, Now You Don't'', a 1968

TV-movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrest ...

about an art expert who is hired by an insurance company to protect a

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

on loan from the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

and later hatches a scheme to steal it. * '' Hustle'', a British series created by

Tony Jordan Tony Jordan (born 21 July 1957) is a British television writer. For many years, he was lead writer and series consultant for BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''. He has written over 250 episodes for the programme since 1989, including the 2008 S ...

(2004–2012). * '' Leverage'', a

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

series created by

Dean Devlin Dean Devlin (born August 27, 1962) is an American screenwriter, producer, director, and actor of film and television. He is best known for his collaborations with director Roland Emmerich, and for his work on the The Librarian (franchise), ''Li ...

(2008–2012). * ''

Olsen-banden The ''Olsen Gang'' (, ) is a Denmark, Danish comedy film series created by Danish director Erik Balling and special effects expert Henning Bahs about the eponymous fictional criminal gang. The gang's leader is the criminal genius and habitual o ...

'', a Danish comedy series.

References