8 h 23 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 23 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A woman lies near death behind a door locked from within. The windows are barred. Where is her attacker?
At the Château du Glandier, Mathilde Stangerson survives an attack that seems impossible to explain. Her father, Professor Stangerson, is shaken, and the police have no answer. Into this troubled household comes Joseph Rouletabille, a teenage reporter who trusts reason above appearances. His friend Jean Sainclair, a young lawyer, follows him into a case that leaves him increasingly amazed.
In Gaston Leroux's The Mystery of the Yellow Room, footprints point in different directions, and servants, guests and neighbours seem to hide something. Celebrated detective Frédéric Larsan brings his own methods to the investigation. Rouletabille must test what the evidence really means—and you receive the clues alongside him, with every chance to challenge his thinking and form your own answer.
What you’ll discover
- An impossible room Examine a sealed crime scene where the simplest question seems to have no answer.
- A stubborn young mind Follow Rouletabille as he puts his faith in logic rather than police routine.
- Two rival methods Watch a sharp teenage reporter challenge a celebrated detective over the meaning of evidence.
- A household under suspicion Enter a gloomy forest estate where secrets make familiar faces hard to trust.
- Your own contest of wits Weigh the clues yourself and explore the gap between appearances and truth.
Who will love it
For readers who love puzzles with clear clues, a sharp young hero, and a house full of secrets. It also suits anyone curious about the roots of detective fiction.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A young reporter takes up the case
- A sealed room and a wounded woman
- Arrival at the Château du Glandier
- Footprints that do not fit together
- Two detectives with two methods
- A second attack in the Inexplicable Gallery
- Suspicion falls on an honorable man
- Reason against appearances
- How the story is told
Who’s who
- Joseph RouletabilleA teenage newspaper reporter with a round head and a sharp mind, who trusts reason over police routine and wants the whole truth.
- Jean SainclairA young lawyer and Rouletabille's loyal friend, who tells the story and follows the case with honest, growing amazement.
- Mathilde StangersonThe professor's daughter, attacked in the Yellow Room, who survives but is unable or unwilling to explain what happened to her.
- Professor StangersonA respected scientist who owns the Château du Glandier, devoted to his research and to his daughter, and badly shaken by the crime.
- Robert DarzacMathilde's fiancé and the professor's colleague, an honorable man whose strange silence draws suspicion and puts him in danger.
- Frédéric LarsanThe celebrated police detective who trusts physical evidence, and who becomes Rouletabille's rival in solving the case.
- Père JacquesThe old family servant who sleeps near the pavilion, and whose closeness to the crime makes him a suspect.
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- Audiobook
- 8 h 23 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Il mistero della camera gialla
by Gaston Leroux · 1907
A teenage reporter investigates a sealed room where a scientist's daughter lies near death and police have no answer.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Mystery of the Yellow Room is a detective novel by Gaston Leroux, a French journalist who spent years reporting on crime and courtrooms before he turned to fiction. It first appeared in French as a serial in 1907, and it came out as a book in 1908.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A young reporter takes up the case
The book opens with its narrator, Jean Sainclair, telling us that he has waited years to write this story. He is a lawyer who trained at the bar, but his closest friend is far younger and far more unusual. Joseph Rouletabille is a reporter for the newspaper L'Époque, and he is barely eighteen. His nickname comes from his round head, which looks like a ball ready to roll.
Sainclair has known him since the Rue Oberkampf case, where the young reporter showed his gift. From the first pages, Leroux shows a youth who thinks differently from other men. Rouletabille does not hunt for dramatic proofs. He says he prefers to reason from what he knows about people and from what he sees with his own eyes.
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What is The Mystery of the Yellow Room about?
It follows a young reporter, Joseph Rouletabille, who investigates an attack on a woman in a room locked from the inside at a French country house. He rivals a famous police detective to explain how it happened.
Why is it called the Yellow Room?
The title comes from the bedroom in Professor Stangerson's pavilion where the crime takes place. The room has yellow wallpaper, a barred window and a door bolted from within, which makes the attack seem impossible.
Who is Rouletabille?
Joseph Rouletabille is a teenage reporter for the newspaper L'Époque. His name comes from his round head, like a rolling ball. He solves crimes by careful logic rather than by gathering physical proofs alone.
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.
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