Émile Gaboriau (1833–1873)
Author of The Widow Lerouge
About the Author
Disambiguation Notice:
Among English editions, "Monsieur Lecoq" can refer to either the translation of both volumes of that work, or to just the first part (the translation of "L'Enquête"). In the latter case, part two goes by "The Honor of the Name."
Image credit: Photo by Alphonse J. Liébert
Series
Works by Émile Gaboriau
Pán Lecoq. Zv. 3, Pán Lecoq 2 copies
The Monsieur Lecoq of the Sûreté Mysteries: Volume 2- File No. 113 & A Disappearance (2019) 2 copies
"Monsieur Lecoq, v. 1" 2 copies
A Vizsgálat 1 copy
Domnul Lecoq 1 copy
Spectrul spânzurătorii 1 copy
Les esclaves de Paris 3 1 copy
The Accursed House 1 copy
L'agente Lecoq 1 copy
O caso Lerouge v.1 1 copy
O caso Lerouge v.2 1 copy
The Honor Of The Name 1 copy
A Lerouge- gy 1 copy
Il signor Lecoq - Vol.1 1 copy
Il signor Lecoq 1 copy
Az özvegy bûntette 1 copy
Los esclavos de la culpa 1 copy
In Peril of His Life 1 copy
Le petit vieux des Batignolles [édition intégrale revue et mise à jour] (French Edition) (2013) 1 copy
I ribelli di Montaignac 1 copy
Greseala unei mame 1 copy
Leruj Davası 1 copy
Gaboriau's Sensational Novels, The Intrigues of a Poisoner and Captain Coutanceau (2008) 1 copy, 1 review
L'Argent des autres 1 copy
Within An Inch Of His Life 1 copy
Court in the Net 1 copy
Other Peoples' Money, The Widow Lerouge, File No. 113, The Honor of the Name, Monsieur Lecoq (Five Matching Volumes (2010) 1 copy
El señor Lecoq 1 copy
Associated Works
The Dead Witness: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Detective Stories (2011) — Contributor — 162 copies, 5 reviews
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: A Collection of Victorian Detective Tales (2008) — Contributor — 139 copies, 1 review
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: The Greatest Detective Stories: 1837-1914 (2019) — Contributor — 37 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Gaboriau, Émile
- Birthdate
- 1833-11-09
- Date of death
- 1873-28-09
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Tarascon Sur-Rhône secondary school
- Occupations
- clerk
soldier
secretary
novelist - Relationships
- Féval, Paul (employer)
- Short biography
- Émile Gaboriau, French novelist, was born at Saujon (Charente Inférieure). He became secretary to Paul Féval, and, after publishing some novels and miscellaneous writings, found his real gift in _L'Affaire Lerouge_ (1866), a detective novel which was published in the _Pays_ and at once made his reputation. The story was produced on the stage in 1872. A long series of novels dealing with the annals of the police court followed, and proved very popular. He died at 40 of pulmonary apoplexy in Paris, and his final works were published posthumously.
- Nationality
- France
- Birthplace
- Saujon, Charente-Maritime, France
- Places of residence
- Paris, Île-de-France, France
- Place of death
- Paris, Île-de-France, France
- Burial location
- Cimetière de Montmartre, Paris, France
- Disambiguation notice
- Among English editions, "Monsieur Lecoq" can refer to either the translation of both volumes of that work, or to just the first part (the translation of "L'Enquête"). In the latter case, part two goes by "The Honor of the Name."
- Associated Place (for map)
- France
Members
Reviews
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 show more 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). show less
No idea why this book isn’t as famous as any by Conan Doyle. Much better written than the Sherlockian stories, and so much more lively characterization! Loved every minute.
The Mystery of Orcival is much better as a historical piece of fiction than as a story in its own right. While you can definitely see the early contours of the mystery genre beginning to emerge with Lecoq’s deductive reasoning and investigative methods, it's still framed as a conventional story where the reader is simply looking over the shoulders of those involved to see how things pan out rather than being expected to deduce or solve anything. It's a story that contains a mystery rather show more that a mystery story in its own right, which is perfectly understandable given the time period and how the genre was still undeveloped, but also leaves less of a reason to read it today other than seeing the roots of the genre which would emerge later.
Putting aside the mystery elements and focusing just on its merits as a story, Orcival is fine. The character writing is quite strong, though quite similar to other books of the era in terms of the prevailing tropes and archetypes of the various people involved which leaves the character dynamics feeling a bit cliche. Meanwhile the actual plot is quite barebones. Lecoq and the other police examine the scene, we get an extended recreation of events, the backstory behind the crime is revealed, and then Lecoq lays a trap to resolve it all. It’s not a complicated nor particularly intriguing series of events other than how Lecoq goes about piecing them together.
This is more of a mystery than Gaboriau’s previous ‘mystery’ novel The Lerouge Affair but you can still clearly see that the genre is still lacking a cohesive form. If you’re interested in reading this more as a historical text to see how later authors build off the foundation laid here I think Orcival is worth the time, though if you’re looking for a proper mystery or story without worrying about the broader context then you can do much better than this. show less
Putting aside the mystery elements and focusing just on its merits as a story, Orcival is fine. The character writing is quite strong, though quite similar to other books of the era in terms of the prevailing tropes and archetypes of the various people involved which leaves the character dynamics feeling a bit cliche. Meanwhile the actual plot is quite barebones. Lecoq and the other police examine the scene, we get an extended recreation of events, the backstory behind the crime is revealed, and then Lecoq lays a trap to resolve it all. It’s not a complicated nor particularly intriguing series of events other than how Lecoq goes about piecing them together.
This is more of a mystery than Gaboriau’s previous ‘mystery’ novel The Lerouge Affair but you can still clearly see that the genre is still lacking a cohesive form. If you’re interested in reading this more as a historical text to see how later authors build off the foundation laid here I think Orcival is worth the time, though if you’re looking for a proper mystery or story without worrying about the broader context then you can do much better than this. show less
Before Arthur Conan Doyle was Emile Gaboriau. This detective novel is a rollicking good read featuring Inspector Lecoq who out-Sherlocks Sherlock Holmes a couple of decades before A Study in Scarlet debuted in 1887. An ingenious plot centered around a bank robbery and a young couple in love who go too far and suffer lifelong regrets pits some very attractive characters against the evil machinations of the Marquis de Clameran and the handsome but spurious Raoul Lagors. In the end young love show more triumphs thanks to the indefatigable Inspector Lecoq and his allies - one of whom is the charming Gypsy who provides an unexpected romantic interest for the Inspector himself! show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 81
- Also by
- 15
- Members
- 1,098
- Popularity
- #23,391
- Rating
- 3.5
- Reviews
- 25
- ISBNs
- 456
- Languages
- 9
- Favorited
- 2