The Secret of the Night

The Secret of the Night, the third in Gaston Leroux's mysteries featuring the memorable reporter and amateur sleuth Joseph Rouletabille, is a marvelous read; however, until now, until I purchased this edition published by Aegypan, I couldn't find a decent version, as the copies I'd come across were seemingly pulled straight from the free-text available on the internet, and were, therefore, chock-full of mistakes. In many quarters this story isn't as highly-rated as its literary siblings, The Mystery of the Yellow Room, which is generally considered the first and the finest of the "locked-room" mysteries, and its sequel, The Perfume of the Lady in Black; but, in my opinion, The Secret of the Night is so much more than merely a worthy follow-up to its noted predecessors, it is in every way their equal. Like most of Boris Akunin's best-selling mysteries featuring Erast Fandorin, The Secret of the Night takes place in Tsarist Russia and includes plenty of interesting and intricate plot twists and action, enough to hook even the most jaded of readers. And in the person of the amazing Joseph Rouletabille, The Secret of the Night can boast of a detective every bit as admirable and perspicacious. Boris Akunin's inventive modern-day mysteries are extremely popular and rightly so (truth is, I read them just as fast they come to market!); but Gaston Leroux wrote his first, long ago, and just as well! Check them out for yourself and you'll see... The Mystery Of The Yellow Room: Extraordinary Adventures Of Joseph Rouletabille, Reporter The Perfume of the Lady in Black (Sequel to Mystery of the Yellow Room)

Though not one of Leroux's best works, 'The Secret Of The Night,' is a stunning novel. I myself own one of the rare copies of 'Secret' as well as 'Myster of the Yellow Room,' and hopefully someday, 'Phantom.' In the book Leroux focuses upon a detective in Russia partly resembleing Inspector DuPon (Poe) and Sherlock Holmes (Conan Doyal). A 4 star book.