Blurbs for Gaston Leroux Mysteries

(Note: Books are listed alphabetically.)

Mystery of the Yellow Room, The (1907/English trans. 1908)

(a. k. a. Le mystere de la chambre jaune)

by Gaston Leroux

Dover Books (2006)

Cover price: $8.95

"The finest locked room tale ever written."

-- John Dickson Carr, author of The Hollow Man

'The young lady had just retired to her room when sounds of a struggle ensue, and cries of "Murder!" and revolver shots ring out. When her locked door is finally broken down by her father and a servant, they find the woman on the floor, badly hurt and bleeding. No one else is in the room. There is no other exit except through a barred window. How did the attacker escape?

'First published in 1907, this intriguing and baffling tale is a classic of early 20th-century detective fiction. At the heart of the novel is a perplexing mystery: how could a crime take place in a locked room that shows no sign of being entered? Nearly a century after its initial publication, Leroux's landmark tale of foul play, deception, and unbridled ambition remains a blueprint for the detective novel genre. Written by the immortal author of The Phantom of the Opera, this atmospheric thriller is still a favorite of whodunit fans everywhere.'