The Club Dumas (original Spanish title El Club Dumas) is a 1993 novel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte. The book is set in a world of antiquarian booksellers, echoing his previous 1990 work The Flanders Panel. The story follows the adventures of a book dealer, Lucas Corso, who is hired to authenticate a rare manuscript by Alexandre Dumas, père. Corso's investigation leads him to seek out two copies of a (fictional) rare book known as De Umbrarum Regni Novem Portis ("Of the Nine Doors of the Kingdom of Shadows"). Corso encounters a host of intriguing characters on his journey of investigation, including devil worshippers, obsessed bibliophiles and a hypnotically enticing femme fatale. Corso's travels take him to Madrid (Spain), Sintra (Portugal), Paris (France), and Toledo (Spain). The Club Dumas is full of details ranging from the working habits of Alexandre Dumas to how one might forge a 17th-century text, as well as insight into demonology. Plot summary Lucas Corso is a middle-aged book dealer with a reputation of doing anything—regardless of legality—for his privileged clientele. While in Madrid attempting to authenticate a previously unknown partial draft of The Three Musketeers, he is summoned to Toledo by Varo Borja, a notoriously eccentric and wealthy collector. Borja has obtained a copy of a legendary book, Of the Nine Doors of the Kingdom of Shadows, whose author was burned at the stake by the Inquisition. The book purportedly contains instructions for summoning the Devil. Only one copy of the book is supposed to have survived, but Borja claims three exist, two of which are elaborate forgeries. He hires Corso to compare the three copies and obtain the legitimate one by any means necessary. He promises to pay handsomely and cover all expenses. Corso agrees, but continues to research the partial Dumas draft. The widow of the draft's previous owner, Liana Taillefer, insists the draft is a fake, but offers to buy it from Corso. After several encounters, she attempts to seduce Corso to obtain the draft; when he succumbs to her charms but refuses to surrender the manuscript, she becomes his enemy. She imagines herself as Milady de Winter, and uses a male associate (whom Corso nicknames "Rochefort") to follow Corso and attempt to retrieve the manuscript by force. Corso confers with the Ceniza Brothers, book restoration experts with extensive knowledge of forgery. They give him basic knowledge to help him compare the copies of