Arsène Lupin against Herlock Sholmes (Written by Maurice Leblanc)

Arsène Lupin against Herlock Sholmes (Written by Maurice Leblanc)

My favourite character is Arsène Lupin. He's humorous, cocky, and heroic. Well, he's a thief, but he is the gentleman thief! Anyway, the reason I'm reviewing this book, instead of the first one (Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar), is because this is the first detective novel I've read, and it introduced me to Lupin.

The Plot

M. Gerbois, a mathematics professor finds a writing-cabinet, that he wants to give to his daughter.
Despite a mysterious young man offering a lot of money for it, Gerbois doesn't want sell it. Later, the cabinet goes missing, and as we learn, a winning lottery ticket was inside.  M. Gerbois announces his intention of taking them back in a newspaper, and a bit later, Lupin also makes an announcement: He has the ticket. Suzanne, the professor's daughter is eventually kidnapped, and we learn that our thief as an accomplice: the "blonde lady". Chief Inspector Justin Ganimard, Lupin's arch-enemy is on the case.  Ganimard fails to capture Lupin, and another crime occurs. Baron D'Hautrec has been murdered, and the "Blue Diamond" is stolen. The Blonde Lady becomes the main suspect. The inspector reveals his solution to the mystery... and it turns out to be false, as Lupin managed to mislead him. The victims decide to call in the famouse British detective: Herlock Sholmes! Sholmes arrives, alongside with his assistant, Wilson. The duel of the century is about to take place in France. The "Gentleman Burglar" vs The "Great Detective"! France against England! Arsène Lupin against Herlock Sholmes!

The Characters

• Arséne Lupin: The famous French thief, who's cunning and gentlemanly.
• Herlock Sholmes: Britain's ace detective, called in by the victims to capture Lupin.
• The "Blonde Lady": Lupin's accomplice, a woman with blonde hair.
• Wilson: Sholmes's assistant.
• Chief Inspector Justin Ganimard: Lupin's arch-nemesis, working for the Sûreté.
• Inspector Folenfant: Ganimard's deputy.
• Commissioner Dudois: Head of the Sûreté.
• Professor Gerbois: A mathematics teacher.
• Suzanne Gerbois: His daughter.
• Baron D'Hautrec: A victim of theft, and perhaps murder.
• M. Destange: An architect.
• Clotilde Destange: His daughter.

The mysteries

Just who is the "Blonde Lady"? How did the baron die exactly? The answsers to these mysteries is provided by Herlock Sholmes. They are good, but I wouldn't call them the best.

About the author

 Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (11 December 1864 – 6 November 1941) was a French mystery writer. His most famous creation is Arséne Lupin, Gentleman Burglar.  He was born in Rouen, and died in Perpignan. His works often involve romances. He was asked by the editor of the magazine "Je sais tout", to create a French rival for Britain's Holmes. He also wrote two science fiction novels. 

Verdict

It's a good book. We follow Sholmes, not Lupin though. Also since it was written before the Golden age, it's not really fair-play. It's more about Sholmes chasing Lupin, than proper investigation. I maybe biased, since this was my first detective novel, but I recommend this book, even if you're not into gentleman thieves. It's a classic.

Some facts

• In the first book, "Arséne Lupin, Gentleman Burglar", there's a story, named "Herlock Sholmes arrives too late", which tells the tale of the first encounter between the thief and the detective.
• The story originally featured Sherlock Holmes, but Conan Doyle protested, so Leblanc had to change it.
• In other editions, the name is Holmlock Shears.
• Some modern editions, it's Sherlock Holmes.

The White Priory Murders (Written by Carter Dickson)

The White Priory Murders (Written by Carter Dickson)

My love for locked-room mysteries is only surpassed by my love for stories about master criminals, like Arsène Lupin, Raffles or Fantomas. Hence the name of this blog(The Hollow Needle is a Lupin novel). But for now, I'm here with another locked-room mystery from the Golden Age: Carter Dickson's "The White Priory Murders".

A cover for the book

The Plot

James Boyton Bennett, an American, is in the UK and he visits his uncle, the head of the British Secret Service, Sir Henry Merrivale. It seems that Dickson (better known under his real name, John Dickson Carr) likes using young Americans as supporting characters, who come to Britain, meet an overweight amateur detective, and a young girl, who's involved in some sort of case, and on whom our young lad has developed a crush on. In "Hag's Nook", we have young Tad Rampole,a college graduate from America, Dr. Gideon Fell,an overweight lexicographer and amateur detective, and Dorothy Starbeth. Here we have James Bennett, Sir Henry Merrivale and Katherine Bohun. But to don't go far from the subject, let's continue.  We learn from Bennett, that someone sent a box of poisoned chocolate to Marcia Tait, an actress, who came back to London, where her acting career started(very badly). Emery, a journalist and Rainger, a director are the one who are responsible for Marcia's fame, and are not happy about her decision of appearing in a play, co-starring Jervis Willard, written by Maurice Bohun, and directed by John Bohun, and supported financially by Lord Canifest. Most of these characters are staying at a place called "White Priory", owned by the Bohuns. When James goes to this place, it turns out Marcia Tait has been murdered, but there is only one person, whose footprints lead to the cottage, where the crime has been commited: John Bohun's. Soon the police arrive, and the investigation begins. Obviously, the title of this book is "The White Priory Murders", so Marcia isn't the only one to leave White Priory dead, but I'm not spoiling the book for you.

The Characters

This book features one of Carr's two main series detectives; Sir Henry Merrivale, a baronet and barrister. Helping him is Detective-Chief Inspector Humphrey Masters of Scotland Yard, who works alongside Inspector Potter of the local police force. There's also James Bennett, Sir Henry's nephew, John and Maurice Bohun, the owners of White Priory, Tim Emery, a journalist, Rainger, a director, Lord Canifest, an aristorcrat, Katherine Bohun, the niece of the Bohuns, and Jervis Willard, an actor. Like in many Golden Age detective novels, this one also features two characters falling in love, like I mentioned above.

The Impossible Crime

The cottage, where the murder has been commited, is surrounded by snow, with only John Bohun's footprints. This is one of the most used methods in detective novels, however, here it's not combined with a locked-room mystery, like in "The Hollow Man". Despite this, the solution is simple, yet amazingly clever, and it's one of the best examples of this method.

About the author

John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) is considered the master of the locked-room mystery. He was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and he was the son of congressman Wooda Nicholas Carr. Carr enjoyed reading books, like the Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown stories, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and G.K. Chesterton respectively, and "The Mystery of the Yellow Room" by Gaston Leroux, which was his favourite detective novel. He' novel, "The Three Coffins" has been named as the best locked-room mystery ever written by many people, including the attendees of Edward D. Hoch's panel of authors, and by the Guardian. He had four notable detective heroes: Dr. Gideon Fell, who's working on his book about the beer drinking habits of the English, Sir Henry Merrivale, a barrister and baronet, Henri Bencolin, the cruel prefect of the Paris Police Force, and Colonel March, of Scotland Yard's Department of Queer Complaints. Carr was also a friend of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and he was commissioned by his estate to write the biography of the author. Alongside Doyle's son, Adrian, he wrote "The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes".He pen names include: Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He was the first American member of the Detection Club. He died in Greenville, South Carolina.

Verdict

The book is very good. If you want to get into locked-room mysteries, this is definitely a good book to start with.  The characters are interesting, the crime is mysterious, and the solution is simple, yet clever.

Some facts

• In the Hungarian edition of the book (my copy is also this edition), Sir Henry Merrivale is renamed to Sir Samuel Merrivale. Yet, it's somewhat inconsistent with the name, as in some places, he's still named Henry. There's also a lot of errors in this book, even for an old pulp edition.

The Mystery of the Yellow Room (Written by Gaston Leroux)

The Mystery of the Yellow Room (Written by Gaston Leroux)

The first review on this blog. Hooray! I think choosing one of my favourite novels as the first subject of this site is a good choice.

But let the review begin.

A cover for the English edition

The Plot

Our story opens in the late 1800s, in France. Mathilde Stangerson, the daughter of Professor Joseph Stangerson, has been attacked in the "Yellow Room". It was locked from the inside, yet the attacker mysteriouly vanished. The crime took France by storm. Every newspaper was talking about it. The chief of police decided to call back the famous detective, Inspector Frederic Larsan from London, to solve the mystery. However, an 18 year old reporter, by the name of Joseph Rouletabille (our protagonist), is also on the trail of the attacker. He brings his friend, the lawyer Jean Sainclair (our narrator) to the Château du Glandier, and on the train, they manage to get into the same cabin as the investigatin magistrate, M. De Marquet. They manage to get into the castle, thanks to a few mysterious words, which Rouletabille told M. Robert Darzac, the fiancé of Mathilde. Once inside, Rouletabille begins a rivalry with Inspector Larsan, because the latter suspects Darzac, while our hero thinks he's innocent. The journalist and the lawyer must solve the impossible crime: the disappearence of the attacker. 

The Characters

Our hero is Joseph Rouletabille, an 18 year old journalist, whose a very likeable character. Sometimes serious like Holmes, but he's still young, so there are some childish acts commited by him. He's head resembles a marble (He has a large forehead). He's an orphan, and his real name is Joseph Josephin (but since it's not a fitting name for a reporter, he uses his nickname, Rouletabille). Assisting him in his investigation is lawyer Jean Sainclair. Like Watson, he's often left wondering, since Rouletabille never tells him about his findings. He's a friend of Robert Darzac, professor of the Sorbonne, and fiancé of Mathilde Stangerson, the beautiful daughter of Joseph Stangerson, a researcher. Their servants include: Father Jacques, Monsieur and Madame Bernier,and the "Green man", their game-keeper. The Berniers are actually arrested by Larsan in the begining of the book, because he thinks they are acomplices. The offical investigating force includes famed policeman Frederic Larsan,M. De Marquet, a judge, and his assistant M. Maleine. Other important characters include: Monsieur and Madame Mathieu, owners of the local inn. There are a number of other minor characters too, but I think these are the important ones.

The Locked-room

The novel has been voted the 3rd best locked-room mystery in 1981. It really is an interesting case. While Israel Zangwill's "The Big Bow Mystery" is considered the first milestone in the genre, Leroux's novel is more important, and much more well known. This time, the author actually makes it stand out, that the crime was commited in a locked-room. The solution is pretty clever. 

About the author

Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux (6 May 1868 – 15 April 1927) was a french author of mystery fiction. He's two best known works are "The Phantom of the Opera"(arguably, the more famous one), and "The Mystery of the Yellow Room". His detective stories feature Joseph Rouletabille as protagonist, but he also wrote about the falsely convicted butcher's apprentice, Chéri-Bibi. He was also a journalist, and he was present during the Russian revolution. He died in Nice.

Verdict

It's a great book, one of my favourites! It may not be exactly a "fair-play whodunnit", since while you can deduce the motive, the criminal's identity is still more complicated. It's a must read for the lovers of Locked-Room mysteries.

Adaptations

There have been a few silent films, including an american one. Most films are french. There's one from 1930 and one from 1949. There's also a tv series from 1965. The most recent adaptation is a movie from 2003. I've seen it, and while it's also a comedy, I highly recommend it. Although, it's not as good as the book (obviously).

Some facts

• John Dickson Carr called it the best detective tale ever written.
• It also influenced Agatha Christie.