Monsieur Lecoq stumbles upon the case that will make his career, if he is able to expose the identity of a murderer whose intelligence and savoir faire exceeds that of his pursuers. A fledgling police officer with high aspirations, Lecoq struggles with rivalry and jealously within the police force as well as his own inexperience. Unlike much early detective fiction, this novel shows its sleuth in his humble beginnings, dramatizing the making of the detective. Lecoq's criminal past and status as policeman make him an interesting detective figure. Although the novel is a little lengthy, the pace is energetic. The twists and turns of the plot and the foibles of Lecoq and his assistant keep the reader engaged. Those who enjoy classic detective fiction and a good plot (and don't mind a lengthy read without closure), and who are interested in the stories that influenced writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle, will appreciate this early work.

The most important author of detective novels was the Frenchman Émile Gaboriau (1832-1873). Far too little known today, Gaboriau is remembered in France as the 'father of the roman policier' and indeed many believe he can lay claim to having invented the modern detective novel. Directly in the tradition of Vidocq, but further influenced by Poe and probably Eugene Sue (whose The Mysteries of Paris had been one of the sensations of 1843), Gaboriau created the police detective Monsieur Lecoq. He appeared in not one but five novels. In the first, L'Affaire Lerouge (1866) he takes rather a back seat to the consulting detective Father Tabaret, whose methods Lecoq adopts, but in the later novels he takes centre stage. In fact you can see the character evolve from book to book - Crime d'Orcival (1867), Le Dossier no.113 (1867), Les Escalves de Paris (1868) and possibly the best Monsieur Lecoq (1869). These books are less easy to find today.

Le Dossier No. 113 (1867) ("File Number 113") is the most disappointing of Gaboriau's books. It does not start out with a detailed look at a crime scene, followed by deductions. H. Douglas Thomson compared it scornfully to a Hollywood thriller. It is also slow moving. It does have a great title, and the inside look at a French bank in the opening chapters is moderately interesting. It does show some features in common with Gaboriau's other fiction: the look at young men's mistresses recalls L'Affaire Lerouge; the wily persistence of the young bank clerk in evading police investigation anticipates the murder suspect in Monsieur Lecoq; and the construction of the puzzle plot contains features that will be expanded in "Le Petit Vieux des Batignoles", which contains one of Gaboriau's most complex plots. But all in all, this is a poor book....