The Mystery of the Yellow Room (1907) by Gaston Leroux: A Review

💛 The Mystery of the Yellow Room is where we are first introduced to Gaston Leroux' genius detective, young (he's only 18 years old) Joseph Rouletabille. Like Leroux, Rouletabille is a journalist. But his great logical thinking will soon earn him a new reputation: a great detective. Just like all great fictional detectives, such as Holmes or Poirot, this story was narrated by Rouletabille's sidekick, a lawyer called Jean Sainclair.

💛 The titular yellow room is Mademoiselle Mathilde Stangerson's bedroom at the Chateau Glandier, where she was assisting her father, Professor Joseph Stangerson in his scientific works, that night. At midnight Mademoiselle resigned to her bedroom, locking the door that opens to the laboratory, where her father was still working, and their loyal old servant "Father" Jacques was sitting quietly.

💛 Then the strangest thing happened - it happened so suddenly that the two men were astonished. Loud voices came from inside the room: people struggling, furniture tumbling, Mademoiselle's yelling 'help!', and there's even gun shots. The two men frantically tried to open the window from outside (it's locked), then force-opened the locked door. When they were able to enter, what they found was too impossible. No one was in the room, except Mathilde, lying unconsciously on the floor, bloody hand marks on the wall. Who had attacked her? Why? But most importantly, how did he escape (the door opens to the laboratory is the only door to the bedroom, and there's no chimney)? Even the Police couldn't come to any suggestion.

💛 Joseph Rouletabille is intrigued by this strange incident, and together with Sainclair goes to Glandier to investigate. Mathilde's fiancé is there, and only by uttering a strange sentence to him, Rouletabille is permitted to enter the chateau - something that puzzles Sainclair, much as Poirot often puzzles Hastings with his cryptical remarks.

💛 Formal investigation is run by a top police detective Frederic Larsan from Surrete. He reminded me much of Poirot's nemesis, also from Surrete: Giraud. And like Poirot, Rouletabille also mocks him for not having a great logical thinking, though he works thoroughly on the ground finding clues. Although Rouletabille is definitely humbler than Poirot - he occasionally admires his rival's way - he is as confident as Poirot, that he will win the race.

💛 This is probably one of the first locked room mysteries ever written, and it provides quite a logical challenge for the reader, as much as the detectives. Besides the characters I mentioned above, there are also a grumpy innkeeper, his pretty wife, two concierges, and a flirtatious gamekeeper.

💛 After the first incident, there are two stranger incidents still - one of which is more serious attempt to take Mathilde's life, and there's one more murder. Larsan accused the fiancé, Robert Darzac, who had feeble alibi during those incidents, but Rouletabille disagrees. His explanation in the end causes great astonishment, and I couldn't guess it either!

💛 All in all, it is a satisfying mystery - a good portion of healthy exercise of one's grey cells, wrapped in a fast-paced thriller, with generous sprinkles of exciting actions.

Rating: 4 / 5

 

My 1st book for Paris in July 2023