The Robber Hotzenplotz (Hotzenplotz #1)

The robber Hotzenplotz works hard at his job, waking early to hide behind the gorse bushes in the woods and wait for unsuspecting victims. One morning Kasperl’s grandmother is sitting in the sun outside her house, grinding coffee in her new musical coffee mill, a birthday gift invented by Kasperl and his best friend Seppel, when suddenly Hotzenplotz, hearing the music, surprises Grandmother and steals her mill. Sergeant Dimplemoser hears Grandmother’s cries and comes to her aid, but Hotzenplotz has evaded the useless police for years. So Kasperl and Seppel vow to catch the robber themselves. But catching robbers is not as easy as all that. . .Kasperl and Seppel soon discover that even the best-laid plans can be foiled, especially when Hotzenplotz enlists the help of his wicked magician friend, Petrosilius Zackleman, a gluttonous villain with a weakness for fried potatoes.
 
A merry tale of two scoundrels, two friends, a frog-fairy, and one unforgettable escapade, enlivened further by F. J. Tripp’s witty pen-and-ink drawings.