10 h 57 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a court full of watchers, can one young reporter trust reason more than fear?
Joseph Rouletabille leaves Paris for a dangerous case in the Russia of the Tsar. Very young and sharply observant, he approaches a mystery like a mathematician facing an equation. But here, the problem unfolds in a tense political world, where the court lives under the threat of plots.
In The Secret of the Night, Gaston Leroux sets a logical mind against secrecy, spies and sudden threats. Rouletabille relies on reasoning rather than rumour as he follows the case. Short chapters keep the story moving, while Leroux's taste for strange detail gives this detective puzzle the energy of an old-fashioned adventure.
What you’ll discover
- A sharp young mind Follow Rouletabille as he brings a reporter's curiosity and precise reasoning to a dangerous mystery.
- Under the Tsar's shadow Enter a Russian court where political unrest and the threat of plots sharpen the tension.
- Reason against fear Watch a hero trust logic in a world shaped by secrecy, spies and rumour.
- A reporter's eye Discover the strange details and brisk storytelling of a novelist who first works as a journalist.
- Theatrical suspense Feel the pace of short chapters and bold drama as the mystery draws you onward.
Who will love it
Readers who love locked-room puzzles, clever young detectives, and tales of spies, secret committees and imperial intrigue told with humour and speed.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A boy reporter arrives at a house under siege
- Send the police away to find the danger
- The floorboard and the stepdaughter
- A hand at the bedroom door
- Spies on every side in the capital
- Annouchka sings and a supper turns bitter
- A night of ladders, shots and silence
- The grapes and a warning from the Committee
- What the story is really about and how it is told
Who’s who
- Joseph RouletabilleA young French reporter with a huge forehead and a sharp mind, sent by the Emperor to protect the general.
- General Feodor TrebassofThe former governor of Moscow, condemned to death by revolutionaries, who laughs with his friends while the attacks continue.
- Matrena PetrovnaThe general's second wife, who guards him day and night and carries him on her back.
- NatachaThe general's calm, poetic daughter, who keeps a secret from everyone and loves her father deeply.
- KouprianeThe brave, hot-tempered Chief of Police who trusts his agents and distrusts the girl.
- GounsovskiThe soft, fat head of the Secret Police, who does favours for all sides and keeps his own counsel.
- AnnouchkaA famous singer and revolutionary heroine whose past ties her to the Moscow uprising.
- Michael Korsakoff and Boris MourazoffThe general's two orderlies, rivals for Natacha, whose villa across the river holds secrets of its own.
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- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
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- Hardcover
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Das Geheimnis der Nacht
by Gaston Leroux · 1912
A young reporter eats the caviar, then dismisses the police guarding a general marked for death.
Medium level10–20 hours to readDeutsch
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In short
A young reporter walks into a villa where a general is marked for death, and the first thing he does is empty the caviar jar. Gaston Leroux wrote The Secret of the Night, a Rouletabille mystery set among bombs, police spies and champagne in St.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A boy reporter arrives at a house under siege
The story opens at the datcha des Iles, the island villa where General Trebassof recovers from a leg wound. Revolutionaries have condemned him for crushing the Moscow uprising, and three attacks have already failed. His friends drink and laugh, as if cheer were a shield.
Into this scene steps Joseph Rouletabille, a French reporter sent by the Emperor himself. Madame Matrena Petrovna, the general's devoted wife, expects a great detective and finds a boy with round cheeks and a huge forehead, busy emptying the jars of caviar. She weeps, he promises to help, and she soon trusts him like a son.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 7 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1912
- Language
- Deutsch
- Reading time
- 7 h 10 min
- Level
- Medium level
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What is The Secret of the Night about?
It follows the young reporter Rouletabille as he tries to save General Trebassof from a series of bomb and poison attacks in St. Petersburg, while he watches the general's wife, daughter and friends for clues.
Who is Rouletabille?
He is a young French journalist and amateur detective who appears in several Leroux novels, including The Mystery of the Yellow Room. He solves cases by careful reasoning and by watching small details.
Do I need to read The Mystery of the Yellow Room first?
No. The Secret of the Night has its own plot and explains who Rouletabille is. Earlier cases are mentioned only briefly, so you can start here.
The author
Gaston Leroux
1868–1927 · French mystery novelist
Gaston Leroux was a French author and journalist born in Paris in 1868. He wrote mystery novels, including The Mystery of the Yellow Room, published in 1907, and The Phantom of the Opera, serialized in 1909–1910. He later lived in Nice, where he died in 1927.
More by Gaston Leroux
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