14 h 23 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
A widow lies murdered in a lonely cottage, and the clues reach into a family’s guarded past.
In The Lerouge Case, Émile Gaboriau begins with a murder near Paris. The widow Lerouge keeps to herself, but her past holds a secret others want hidden. As the police examine the traces, elderly amateur Père Tabaret brings patient attention to footprints, small objects, and the stories people tell.
Officer Gevrol trusts experience and routine. Monsieur Daburon, the investigating magistrate, wants justice, yet his own feelings complicate his duty. When suspicion falls on Albert de Commarin, a count’s son, more than innocence is at stake. Birth, inheritance, and the right to a family name become part of the search for truth.
What you’ll discover
- Clues worth watching Follow footprints, objects, and alibis as patient questioning tests what each trace can mean.
- An amateur against routine Meet Tabaret, a former pawnbroker whose careful reading of clues challenges Gevrol’s confidence.
- Justice under personal strain Watch Daburon struggle to serve the law while his feelings pull him another way.
- A name at risk Explore how questions of birth and inheritance threaten Albert de Commarin’s rank and identity.
- The detective novel takes shape Discover an early crime novel built around investigation, false trails, and long interrogations.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like to see how detective fiction began, and anyone who enjoys following clues step by step. If you want fast action and modern forensic science, the slow, talkative nineteenth century pace may feel less suited.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A widow dead in a lonely cottage
- An old amateur reads the scene
- Professionals and amateur disagree
- A magistrate with more at stake
- Birth, rank and the cost of secrets
- How Gaboriau builds the mystery
Who’s who
- Père TabaretAn elderly former pawnbroker, nicknamed Tirauclair, who studies crime as a passion and reads clues with great care.
- Monsieur DaburonThe investigating magistrate, a serious man who wants to do justice while his own feelings pull against him.
- GevrolA confident police officer who trusts routine and speed and is slow to accept an amateur's ideas.
- LecoqA young, watchful police agent who learns from Tabaret and later becomes Gaboriau's own series detective.
- The widow LerougeA withdrawn woman in the village of La Jonchère whose past holds a secret that others want kept.
- Albert de CommarinThe young son of a count, whose rank and name are put at risk when suspicion falls on him.
- The Count de CommarinA proud, reserved nobleman who guards his family's honor and says little about what he knows.
- Noël GerdyA young lawyer whose life becomes tied to the great house at the center of the case.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Il caso Lerouge
by Émile Gaboriau· 1865
A widow’s murder exposes secrets of birth and inheritance.
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Language: Italiano
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A widow dead in a lonely cottage
The story begins in the village of La Jonchère, on the edge of the Seine not far from Paris. There lives a woman known as the widow Lerouge, who keeps to herself in a small house. Neighbors have plenty to say about her, and little of it is kind. She has a little money put by, and she has a past that nobody in the village quite understands.
One day the widow is found dead in her cottage. She has been killed by violence, and the room shows signs of a struggle. The discovery sets the machinery of the law in motion. Police officers come out from Paris, and the case passes to an investigating magistrate, the official in French law who gathers the evidence before any trial.
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The author
Émile Gaboriau
1832–1873 · French detective novelist
Émile Gaboriau (1832–1873) was a French writer born in Saujon, France. He later lived in Paris, where he died. He wrote novels and stories, including detective fiction featuring Monsieur Lecoq. The Lerouge Case appeared in 1866, followed by The Mystery of Orcival in 1867 and Monsieur Lecoq in 1868.
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What is The Lerouge Case about?
It is a crime novel about the murder of a widow in a cottage near Paris. Police, a magistrate and an amateur sleuth investigate, and the case leads into the secrets of a noble family.
Who is Père Tabaret in The Lerouge Case?
He is an elderly retired pawnbroker who is an eager amateur detective. Nicknamed Tirauclair, he reads physical clues carefully and often sees what the professional police overlook.
Is The Lerouge Case the first detective novel?
It is often named among the earliest. Published in 1866, it is a full-length novel built around a police investigation, though Poe's tales and other works came before it in the wider genre.
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