9 h 3 minAudiobook10 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 3 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a France gripped by fear of spies, how do you trust a woman whose purpose stays hidden?
In The Woman of Mystery, Maurice Leblanc brings wartime suspicion into a brisk spy thriller. The First World War forms a world of rumours, codes and informers, where names can conceal loyalties and trust never feels secure. At its centre stands a woman whose motives are hard to read.
Betrayal and vengeance drive the tension. A promise offers something to trust, then a broken promise creates a desire for payment. Leblanc, the creator of Arsene Lupin, keeps the story moving through fast scenes and sharp reversals. The pull is immediate: what lies behind this woman's mystery, and who can be believed?
What you’ll discover
- War in the shadows Enter a world where rumours, codes and informers make suspicion part of daily life.
- A woman beyond trust Follow the mystery surrounding a deadly femme fatale whose real purpose remains out of sight.
- Betrayal with a cost Feel the tension as trust faces tests and broken promises stir the wish for vengeance.
- A brisk unfolding mystery Let clear, quick prose carry you through scenes shaped by secrets and sharp reversals.
- Questions that pull forward Discover the lure of chapters that often close on a question or a surprise.
Who will love it
Readers who like a fast war adventure with spies, disguises, hidden tunnels and daring raids, and who enjoy following a clever hero as he pieces a mystery together from daggers, letters and a torn diary.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A wedding day under the shadow of war
- A boy sees the Emperor and a murder
- The portrait in the locked room
- Proof, a chapel and a mobilization order
- A corporal in the first weeks of war
- Corvigny, a peasant woman and a shelled château
- Major Hermann and the torn diary
- The trenches, the lighthouse and the captured major
- A promise, a pass and a dig on the terrace
- What the story is really about
Who’s who
- Paul DelrozeA young French engineer turned officer who has carried the memory of his father's murder for sixteen years and now hunts the killer.
- Élisabeth DelrozePaul's bride, daughter of the Comte d'Andeville, who stays at Ornequin to prove her mother innocent.
- Bernard d'AndevilleÉlisabeth's cheerful young brother, a volunteer who joins Paul's regiment and stands by him in every danger.
- The Comte d'AndevilleÉlisabeth and Bernard's father, who has mourned his wife for years and now serves with the British army as an interpreter.
- Major HermannA cloaked German staff officer and chief spy whose face looks eerily like the portrait in the locked room.
- Prince ConradA son of the Kaiser, vain and careless, who takes over the château and presses his attentions on Élisabeth.
- KarlThe Major's henchman, who poses as a Belgian soldier named Laschen in Paul's own section and fires on him from behind.
- Jérôme and RosalieThe caretaker and his wife at Ornequin, who greet the newlyweds and stay beside Élisabeth through the occupation.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 9 h 3 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 10 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear La Femme mystérieuse in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
La Femme mystérieuse
by Maurice Leblanc · 1915
On his wedding night, Paul Delroze finds his father's killer staring down from a portrait in his bride's family home.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Woman of Mystery is a wartime spy novel by Maurice Leblanc, the French writer best known for his Arsène Lupin tales. It was written during the First World War and follows one French officer through the first months of the fighting in 1914 and early 1915.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A wedding day under the shadow of war
The book begins at the railway station of Corvigny, in Lorraine, on the Thursday before mobilization. Paul Delroze and his bride Élisabeth have been married only that morning in Chaumont. Soldiers, guns and fleeing families crowd the platform, and Élisabeth trembles at the thought of war and separation.
Jérôme, the caretaker of the Ornequin estate, meets them with a carriage. He has served Élisabeth's father, the Comte d'Andeville, for seventeen years. The road climbs toward the château, and Paul promises to tell his wife a story he has long kept from her.
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What is The Woman of Mystery about?
It follows French officer Paul Delroze in 1914 as he searches for the woman who killed his father years earlier. The trail leads him through the opening battles of the First World War, a secret tunnel and a ring of German spies.
Who is Major Hermann in The Woman of Mystery?
Major Hermann is a German staff officer and chief spy whose face looks strikingly like the woman in the portrait at Ornequin. His name echoes Hermine, and Paul spends much of the book trying to work out how the two are linked.
What do the letters H, E, R, M mean in the book?
They are carved into the handle of the daggers used in the murders and attacks, and they match the first four letters of Hermine and of Hermann. Paul follows them from clue to clue in his search for the killer.
The author
Maurice Leblanc
1864–1941 · French mystery novelist
Maurice Leblanc was a French writer born in Rouen in 1864. He wrote novels and short stories, including the Arsène Lupin series, which began in 1905. His books include The Hollow Needle, published in 1909, and The Crystal Stopper, published in 1912. He died in Perpignan in 1941.
More by Maurice Leblanc
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