Leroux's story, in this writer's opinion, truly tops those of Doyle. It's a seemingly impossible case to solve, so complex that a diagram of the house has to be inserted in the book, and the outcome is surprising. Do not be thrown off by Leroux's seemingly clunky writing -- a complaint many have had with his other famous novel "The Phantom of the Opera." Leroux was originally a journalist, and even as an author, found it more comfortable to write his fiction as though they were written by a journalist, perhaps for a newspaper.

There are a couple of odd things that I guess just don't translate into English. One, throughout the entire novel they discuss "the murder of Mmme. Stangerson" -- though in fact it was simply an attempted murder. For many chapters I was trying to figure out how Mmme. Stangerson could be talking if she was murdered.

Also, my diagram seems to be missing a crucial number explaining where one of the windows is. While this is frustrating, it is fully possible to enjoy the novel anyway. I highly recommend this book, whether you're a Leroux fan, a mystery fan, or a fan of early 20th century fiction.

Harika arkada$lar, tek kelimeyle harika. Son sayfaya kadar sizi içinde tutabilen bir kitap. Olaylarin bi açiklamasi olabilecegini dü$ünmüyosunuz bile. kitabin sonuna kadar meraktan çatlamazsaniz gerçekten çok $a$iracaksiniz. (Duydunuz mu adnan & inci ?)

Leroux stated in this book that his purpose was to creat something totally different from traditional detectives such as Poe's Dupin and Doyle's Holmes, his mission was very well accomplished. Not only the mystery is out of the traditional line, but also the solution.

Strictly speaking, Poe and Doyle never wrote locked-room, at least they did not intend to write. In this novel, we find totally fresh mysteries: murderer escaped from locked door and barred window; murderer disappeared when chased by people from several directions in a gallery. If a reader is very familiar with Carr's mysteries, the above poses no difficulties. However, DO remember, Leroux is the creator while Carr is just a good (or not so good) imitator, only by this way can one fully and truely appreciate Leroux's originality and great contribution.

Despite the plot, the narrative is Sherlockian style, which can keep readers thinking, and is much prefered to Carr's leaping style.

There is inevitably some weakness in the novel. The major one lies in the research paper, whose disappearance and return are not at all well explained. Since the plot can well stand alone without the paper, its presence is really excessive. Besides that, what I hate is the detective's from-nowhere remarks, which are purposely employed to show the detective's "superhuman" ability by making readers totally dumbfounded, and which then disappointly turn out to be something from his eavesdropping. And I hate the everything-is-possible-with-Mr.-super-villain explanation, why not just let the murderer be an alien, with whom everything is more possible?

In conclusion, this novel is worth reading, not only in its historical sense, but also as a detective story. One will not be disappointed if one can tolerate Carr's novel.

Though not one of Leroux's best works, 'The Secret Of The Night,' is a stunning novel. I myself own one of the rare copies of 'Secret' as well as 'Myster of the Yellow Room,' and hopefully someday, 'Phantom.' In the book Leroux focuses upon a detective in Russia partly resembleing Inspector DuPon (Poe) and Sherlock Holmes (Conan Doyal). A 4 star book.

If you enjoyed "The Mystery of the Yellow Room", you will probably enjoy "The Perfume of the Lady in Black". This novel was very well written by Gaston Leroux (who actually included himself as a character in the early pages of the book!). You must read "The Mystery of the Yellow Room" before attempting "The Perfume of the Lady in Black", as it is merely a continuation of the events from "Yellow Room". To say that Gaston Leroux has a few surprises in store for you with this book would be an understatement, as he gives new meanings to the events from the first book. For me to say anyting further would be unfair to a prospective reader. While "The Mystery of the Yellow Room" was a five star book without question, "The Perfume of the Lady in Black" falls just short of that lofty plateau. For those who enjoy a well-written mystery, you could scarcely do better than Gaston Leroux.

I had to give the book two stars simply because it is in part Gaston Leroux's novel. However, it is not the original. I was terribly disappointed to discover that, far from being the original novel in its entirety, it is "abridged and adapted especially for intermediate students of French." In other words, it was rewritten. The author's foreword is almost completely gone, retaining only "Le fantome de l'Opera a existe. Il a existe en chair et en os." [Please pardon the lack of accents.] The epilogue had vanished, too. I only explored a little farther, to discover that any sentences or words extra had been cut, even such simple things as "The Persian had seen the poor, unhappy Erik for the last time." Now, I can understand that some editing for students is necessary (did I mention there are questions at the end of each chapter?) However, this seems to me to be an extreme and heartless adaptation, and there was no mention of the alterations in the description of the book. For those who do not have a complete command of the French language and wish to read a novel in that language, fine. However, for Phantom fans who have read every English translation within reach (and own most of them), I regretfully suggest that you continue the search, and please tell me what you find. I wish you good hunting.

For those of you that don't understand French, don't try to read this, go for the English version, But I have to say that I loved this book, I don't see why it was so different. (though it was in French) I have six copies of the book in both French and English, and there is always some change, so I can tell you it was a great book, even though some of the wording was different, as it is in most of the others I have. I totally recomend it! I'm only fourteen but I loved this and other classical lit.