This is the first in a series of crime novels written in the third quarter of the 19th century by this French author, who died tragically young aged only 40. It is widely considered to be the first French detective novel. I really enjoyed this - there was an economy of style and a crispness about the narrative that I relished. The murder of the Widow Lerouge was discovered and reported to the police in the first couple of paragraphs and the crime was seemingly resolved by chapter 4; only to give rise to unravellings of various characters' lives and pasts, with different motivating factors affecting their possible involvement in the cause of Lerouge's murder. There are inevitably echoes of the origins of Sherlock Holmes - "The misfortune is that the art is becoming lost. Great crimes are now so rare." This crime concerns not only murder but infant substitution and lifelong deceit. A great read and I am glad there are many more in this series (I thought until a few minutes ago it was a five book series, but I now realise it is some 10-11). ( )

Perhaps the first detective novel, it preceded and then was eclipsed by Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. This novel is the first in series featuring Lecoq (based on the real life detective Vidoq,) though he is a secondary character here. There's murder, forensics, inductive reasoning, unrequited love, fading aristocracy, self-made men, some good old fashioned melodrama, and a true mystery! It's holding up remarkably well in terms of plot and procedure... (Half-way though)

This is an amateur-detective story written in 1866, preceding the Sherlock Holmes stories by 20+ years. In this novel, the eponymous character is murdered; and Monsieur Tabaret (a.k.a. "Tirauclair" (the "clarifier")) is on the case! There is a cast of colorful characters, great takes on the thinking of the characters, a lead down the garden path which turns into an indictment on too heavy a reliance on forensics, and quite a bit of melodrama which keeps things lively. The mystery itself is well constructed, though I take issue with Tirauclair's final bit of confirming evidence; but I'm more than eager to start the next book in the series, 'The Mystery of Orcival.'

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I’ve been meaning to read some books by the Gaboriau for some time. I had heard that Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes character was, at least partly, based on Gaboriau’s Detective Lecoq. It turns out that in _The Lerouge Case_ Lecoq is a minor character. He is a junior detective and is mentioned briefly at the beginning of the book to introduce the amateur detective Tabaret. Apparently in later books Tabaret is a mentor and teacher to Lecoq.

But already we see some some of the characteristics made famous in the Holmes novels. Tabaret is an amateur, not part of the regular police force. There is a pompous bumbling policeman names Gevrol, somewhat like Conan Doyle’s Lestrade.

The book starts of with the murder of the widow Lerouge. She lived by herself in a small village outside Paris and her origins are somewhat mysterious. Early on Tabaret is introduced and he quickly finds a large number of clues missed by the police and magistrates. The magistrate is impressed (even if Gevrol is not) and Tabaret is asked to help the officials in solving the case.

Two things make the make the book such enjoyable. One is Gaboriau’s dry sense of humor. He pokes fun at the mannerisms and affectations of all the characters. The other reason is that the plot goes of in unexpected directions in each chapter. You believe you know what the general line of the book will be and in the next chapter things are turned on their heads. Characters you think are guilty are seen to be innocent. A person thought to be upright has a dark secret. There is a case of two half brothers switched at birth, that is not what it seems at first. There are strange (and somewhat implausible) connections between characters that unexpected coincidences. Right up to the final chapters you are not quite sure how it will end.

A fun book to read. However there are so many implausible coincidences that the book may not appeal to people expecting a more traditional mystery. I quite enjoyed it and plan on reading some of the author’s Detective Lecoq novels in the future. ( )

It is easy to see why this book made the author a literary star back in the 1860's. Since some of its effectiveness depends on a subtle misdirection of the reader, I won't say much about the story, but it taught me a good deal about Parisian values, customs and conflicts of that period. ( )