The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana by Jess Nevins

Author:Jess Nevins [Nevins, Jess]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2015-01-05T05:00:00+00:00

The Lecoq novels are in many ways are modern mysteries. They are about sex and murder and family scandal. They are well-plotted and thanks to Gaboriau's intensive research they display a large amount of detail about crime and the legal/police procedures of the French during that era. They convey a good deal of knowledge about the Paris of the era as well, its boulevards and underworld and jail cells. Gaboriau spends a significant amount of time following Lecoq and showing his methods. Unlike later mystery novelists Gaboriau is also a distinctive stylist whose use of the French language is remarkable; he has not, regrettably, been well served by his translators. But Gaboriau’s influences affected his style as well as his content. Gaboriau was particularly influenced by the roman feuilleton writers who preceded him, including Paul Féval, with his Habits Noirs (see: Black Coats) novels, Eugène Sue, with his Les Mystères de Paris (see: Rodolphe von Gerolstein), and Ponson du Terrail, with his Rocambole (see: Rocambole) stories. So Gaboriau’s work has substantial elements of the romans feuilleton and sensation fiction, including too great a reliance on coincidence and a surfeit of melodrama. For all that, though, Gaboriau’s novels make for entertaining reading, even with their fustian and excessive verbiage.

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