Book Cover of The Mystery of the Yellow Room

The Mystery of the Yellow Room

by Gaston Leroux

One of the first locked room mysteries, The Mystery of the Yellow Room focuses on a supposedly impossible crime which has been committed within a locked room. The novel was initially published in the French periodical L’illustration, and was later published as a book in 1908. It is the first of a series of novels featuring the famous fictional reporter Joseph Rouletabille. The mystery begins when Joseph Rouletabille, a reporter and amateur sleuth is sent to investigate a crime scene at the Château du Glandier, home to renowned chemist Joseph Stangerson. In the focus of the crime is none other than professor Stangerson’s daughter Mathilde. She has been viciously attacked and almost killed in her room, or as the title suggests – the yellow room. What makes the crime so bewildering is the fact that it took place in a room locked from the inside with no apparent exit for the perpetrator. As Miss Stangerson is found alone lying on the floor, the assailant seems to have left significant clues behind, including a bloody mutton bone, a bloody handprint on the wall, and some old boots. Accompanied by his friend and lawyer Sainclair, Rouletabille gains access to the crime scene and interrogates some suspicious characters. The official detective assigned to the case is Frederick Larson, who becomes somewhat of a friendly rival to Rouletabille, and suspects Miss Stangerson’s fiancé Robert Darzac to be involved in the crime. As the mystery unfolds, the darkest secrets and twisted nature of the characters are slowly revealed. A novel portraying the many facets of deception, hazardous ambition and foul play, The Mystery of the Yellow Room sets the benchmark for detective fiction. Furthermore, readers are intellectually challenged to follow the many clues left behind, pushing them into the role of detective in hope of unraveling the mystery. Nevertheless, intriguing and nail biting to the very end, Leroux has effectively masterminded a perplexing mystery, widely celebrated to this very day.

Book Details

Language

English

Original Language

French

Published In

1907

Genre/Category

Tags/Keywords

Authors

Gaston Leroux image

Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux was a French journalist and author of detective fiction. In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel The Phantom of the Opera (Le Fantôme de...

Books by Gaston Leroux

Listen/Download Audiobook

Read by:
00:00
Playback Speed 1.0
00:00
  • Select Speed

Related books

God's Country—And the Woman Cover image

God's Country—And the Woman by James Oliver Curwood

James Curwood wrote many adventures of the far north. By 1909 he had saved enough money to travel to the Canadian northwest, a trip that provided the...

Bob Bowen Comes To Town Cover image

Bob Bowen Comes To Town by H. Bedford-Jones

It follows the titular character, Bob Bowen, a daring adventurer who arrives in a small western town to investigate a string of mysterious crimes. Alo...

Man Who Ended War Cover image

Man Who Ended War by Hollis Godfrey

In "The Man Who Ended War," news reporter Jim Orrington stumbles upon a mysterious letter demanding global disarmament or facing the destruction of al...

Lady Molly of Scotland Yard Cover image

Lady Molly of Scotland Yard by Baroness Emma Orczy

Lady Molly of Scotland Yard is a collection of short stories featuring the eponymous Lady Molly, an early example of a female detective in fiction. Cr...

Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès Cover image

Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès by Maurice Leblanc

Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès est un recueil de deux histoires courtes qui présentent la rencontre entre le gentleman cambrioleur Arsène Lupin e...

Mysteries of Paris - Volume 3 Cover image

Mysteries of Paris - Volume 3 by Eugène Sue

This volume of "Mysteries of Paris" continues the compelling story of Rodolphe, a man of noble birth living in disguise as a Parisian laborer. His ext...

The Thirteenth Man Cover image

The Thirteenth Man by Mrs. Coulson Kernahan

The book revolves around a young man named Harold, who finds himself in a strange and terrifying situation when he becomes the thirteenth person in a...

Lost House Cover image

Lost House by Richard Harding Davis

Lost House revolves around Austin Ford, a journalist stationed in London, who stumbles upon a cryptic note in a dark alley. The note pleads for help f...

Haunted Room Cover image

Haunted Room by Charlotte Maria Tucker

In Charlotte Maria Tucker's "Haunted Room", Mr. Trevor inherits a sprawling estate called Myst Court, a place steeped in whispers of a haunted room....

Open Door and The Portrait Cover image

Open Door and The Portrait by Margaret O. Oliphant

Two stories "of the seen and unseen" with mysterious occurrences by Margaret O. Oliphant, originally published in 1881. (Summary by Gesine)

Reviews for The Mystery of the Yellow Room

No reviews posted or approved, yet...