Description Considered by many to be the first detective novel, The Lerouge Case (aka The Widow Lerouge) introduces Monsieur Lecoq (later Inspector Lecoq), a former “habitual criminal” who becomes a police officer. Émile Gaboriau based Lecoq at least in part on an a [...]
Description A murder is discovered. The authorities quickly arrest an obvious suspect. A detective spends hours at the scene in disguise before making himself known, and proceeds to minutely examine the evidence with the assistance of a doctor, among others, before [...]
Description A bank safe is robbed. Only two men have both the key and the combination to the safe. The police naturally look to the employee rather than the owner of the bank. But Monsieur Lecoq, as always, sees what everyone else misses. Was it one of the two [...]
Description The last Lecoq novel goes back to the beginning, to Monsieur Lecoq’s first case, the case that began his reputation as a master of detection, master of disguise, and master of detail. The case begins simply: Lecoq and several other policemen come upon a [...]
Description In this, Gaboriau’s penultimate Lecoq novel, Lecoq doesn’t make an appearance until the last few chapters of the book. In fact, the protagonists’ identity remains unclear until almost halfway through. They’re not missed, though, because the antagonists a [...]