The Lerouge Case (Monsieur Lecoq #1)

The 1st book featuring Monsieur Lecoq—Paris’s most perceptive detective, and a precursor to Sherlock Holmes

The Widow Lerouge lived alone in an isolated cottage on the outskirts of Paris. When she is not seen for several days, her neighbors alert the gendarmes, who discover that the widow has been savagely murdered in her home. But who would have committed such a monstrous crime? The local police force is stumped. Enter Monsieur Tabaret—a former clerk who is also a remarkably astute amateur detective. It is up to Tabaret and the clever Monsieur Lecoq to unravel the mystery and apprehend the killer.
 
Considered the father of modern detective fiction, author Émile Gaboriau has crafted a spellbinding classic mystery.