5 h 7 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 7 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a Paris street where neighbors know one another’s business, a crime makes every small lie matter.
In The Little Old Man of Batignolles, Émile Gaboriau brings a mystery into a district of modest homes and small incomes. A quiet old man stands at its center. As a crime disturbs his street, police agent Méchinet must work out what happens among people whose ordinary lives offer no simple answers.
Méchinet relies on patience, close observation and careful questions. Around him, clerks, landladies, shopkeepers and neighbors gossip, guess and guard their reputations. Some have reasons to be careful with the truth. Here, the pull comes from small habits and hidden secrets rather than a chase, and everyday nineteenth-century Paris becomes part of the puzzle.
What you’ll discover
- An ordinary street unsettled Enter Batignolles, where modest homes and familiar neighbors form the setting for a troubling crime.
- A patient police agent Follow Méchinet as he builds his inquiry through close attention and careful questions.
- Small lies that matter Watch gossip and guarded reputations complicate the search for what really happens.
- Everyday Paris in view Meet clerks, landladies and shopkeepers whose daily lives give the mystery its texture.
- Detective fiction taking shape Explore a mystery by Gaboriau, a pioneer who helps establish the pattern of police fiction.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like clue-hunting detectives, Paris streets, gentle satire of money and pride, and love stories where the heart wins over a fortune.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A stranger's manuscript brings a detective's memoir
- A name in blood and a hand that does not fit
- Doubt a confession until the facts agree
- Appearances can be staged, so watch the small things
- A ruined viscount climbs a tree for a goldfinch
- Love and a fortune pull in opposite directions
- A farm boy meets a seminary's two faces
- Three quick tales of vanishings, rents, and dreams
Who’s who
- J.-B. Casimir GodeuilA young medical student with a camera-like memory who follows his neighbor into police work and tells the story as a memoir.
- Monsieur MéchinetA quiet Paris detective who hides his feelings behind a snuffbox and refuses to believe a case is closed too neatly.
- Caroline MéchinetThe detective's cheerful, shrewd wife, who listens to his cases and offers bold theories about who is really behind a crime.
- MonistrolA seller of imitation jewelry, accused of killing his rich uncle, who confesses at once and refuses to explain why.
- Madame MonistrolHis beautiful, elegant wife, who dresses for the part of the grieving woman and has an alibi ready for every question.
- Max de TressangA ruined young viscount who falls in love with a lace mender and must choose between her and a rich heiress.
- Louise BlainAn orphaned lace mender, poor and proud, who wants love but fears becoming a rich man's mistress.
- ClodomirMax's penniless writer friend, loyal and sharp-tongued, who defends Louise and helps both of them when they need it.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- 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 vecchietto di Batignolles
by Émile Gaboriau · 1876
A student follows his quiet neighbor to a bloodstained room in Batignolles, where a name is written on the floor.
Easy read2–5 hours to readItaliano
Learn a language with easy classicsSpagnoloFranceseTedescoItalianoGiapponesePortogheseIngleseHow we measure levels
Excellent
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In short
What would you think of a quiet neighbor who carries a snuffbox, keeps odd hours, and comes home one night with his face cut open? A young medical student in Paris asks himself that question, and the answer takes him to a room in Batignolles where an old man lies dead and a name is written on the floor in blood.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A stranger's manuscript brings a detective's memoir
One day a man of about forty, neatly dressed in black, leaves a handwritten manuscript at the offices of the Petit Journal. The pages sit untouched until a reader unties the string. He is hooked, and soon the whole staff agrees the paper must print it.
There is one problem. The pages carry no author's name, only a card reading J.-B. Casimir Godeuil, with no address. The editors put up mysterious posters, and for a week Paris wonders who he is. Before the paste is dry, Godeuil hurries in, and a deal is made to print his memoirs.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1876
- Language
- Italiano
- Level
- Easy read
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}
}
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What is The Little Old Man of Batignolles about?
It tells how a young medical student and his neighbor, a Paris police detective, investigate the murder of an old man in Batignolles. A name written in blood and a confession both seem to settle the case, but small clues point elsewhere.
Who is Monsieur Méchinet?
He is a Paris detective who lives across the landing from the narrator. He pretends to take snuff when moved, consults his clever wife, and prefers gathering facts quietly from shopkeepers to making speeches.
What else is in this collection besides the detective story?
It also holds Happiness Over Wealth, a love story between a viscount and a lace mender, Nessus's Cassock, set at a seminary, and three short tales: A Disappearance, A Cursed House, and She Lived Chastely.
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.
More by Émile Gaboriau
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