Resumen
Resumen de El Viejecito de Batignolles
Go deeper: the whole of El Viejecito de Batignolles
About 3 h 10 min to read.Para quién es
You will enjoy this if you like clue-by-clue detective work, Paris streets, and short ironic tales of love and money that you can finish in one sitting.
De qué trata este libro
Letters written in blood beside a murdered man lead the police to his nephew. Only a young medical student sees that something is wrong. The Little Old Man of Batignolles, by Émile Gaboriau, gives you a Paris detective at work, followed by five short tales of love, money, fear and illusion. First, meet the neighbour who hunts criminals for a living.
En este resumen
- 1A student follows his neighbour to a crimeFree
- 2The evidence points at the nephew, and fails
- 3Careful questions matter more than fast conclusions
- 4Behind the shop on the Rue Vivienne
- 5Happiness Over Wealth: a viscount learns what he wants
- 6Four shorter tales of money, fear and illusion
Idea clave 1 de 6
A student follows his neighbour to a crime
The book opens with the memoirs of J.-B. Casimir Godeuil, a medical student of twenty-three who lives on the Rue Monsieur-le-Prince. His neighbour, Monsieur Méchinet, keeps odd hours, comes home in disguise, and once arrives at night with a cut face. Godeuil is sure there is a secret and sets out to find it.
The answer arrives over a game of dominoes at Café Leroy. A messenger whispers to Méchinet, who rises at once and invites the student along. They take a cab to a house in Batignolles, where a crowd presses against a line of police. Méchinet is a detective of the security police, and the officers step aside for him.
This opening shows how the whole book works. A curious outsider notices what trained men miss, and an experienced man knows what to do with it. Godeuil is about to learn that his eyes have a rare gift.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Go deeper: the whole of El Viejecito de Batignolles
About 3 h 10 min to read.Questions about El Viejecito de Batignolles
What is The Little Old Man of Batignolles about?
It follows a medical student, Godeuil, who helps the detective Méchinet investigate the murder of an old Paris hairdresser. The evidence points at the victim's nephew, but a small detail casts doubt on the arrest.
Who is Monsieur Méchinet?
Méchinet is a detective of the Paris security police who lives across the landing from Godeuil. He wears disguises, takes snuff he never sniffs, and asks his wife for advice on his cases.
Is The Little Old Man of Batignolles a true story?
It is a detective story by Émile Gaboriau, presented as the first of Godeuil's memoirs. Godeuil tells how he first joins Méchinet on a murder inquiry.
What else is in this collection besides the main story?
It adds five short pieces. Happiness Over Wealth, Nessus's Cassock, A Disappearance, A Cursed House and She Lived Chastely. They are tales of love, money, a seminary, a vanished merchant and a marriage in Saumur.
Is it easy to read?
Yes, in the sense that the chapters are short, the dialogue is lively and the clues come one at a time. You can follow every step of the inquiry beside Godeuil.
Cite this edition
Gaboriau, Émile. The Little Old Man of Batignolles. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-little-old-man-of-batignolles.
Gaboriau, É. (2026). The little old man of Batignolles. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-little-old-man-of-batignolles (Original work published 1876)
Gaboriau, Émile. The Little Old Man of Batignolles. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-little-old-man-of-batignolles.
@book{gaboriau2026little,
author = {Gaboriau, Émile},
title = {The Little Old Man of Batignolles},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-little-old-man-of-batignolles},
note = {First published 1876}
}