Caught In The Net [Paperback]

Emile Gaboriau (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2007

The cold on the 8th of February, 186-, was more intense than the Parisians had experienced during the whole of the severe winter which had preceded it, for at twelve o'clock on that day Chevalier's thermometer, so well known by the denizens of Paris, registered three degrees below zero. The sky was overcast and full of threatening signs of snow, while the moisture on the pavement and roads had frozen hard, rendering traffic of all kinds exceedingly hazardous. The whole great city wore an air of dreariness and desolation, for even when a thin crust of ice covers the waters of the Seine, the mind involuntarily turns to those who have neither food, shelter, nor fuel. This bitterly cold day actually made the landlady of the Hotel de Perou, though she was a hard, grasping woman of Auvergne, gave a thought to the condition of her lodgers, and one quite different from her usual idea of obtaining the maximum of rent for the minimum of accommodation. "The cold," remarked she to her husband, who was busily engaged in replenishing the stove with fuel, "is enough to frighten the wits out of a Polar bear. In this kind of weather I always feel very anxious, for it was during a winter like this that one of our lodgers hung himself, a trick which cost us fifty francs, in good, honest money, besides giving us a bad name in the neighborhood.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

French crime-fiction novelist Gaboriau is known as 'Father of the detective novel' and Edgar Allan Poe of France. He wrote 21 novels in 13 years. His work reflects his imaginative power and keen observation. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 380 pages
• Publisher: 1st World Library - Literary Society (June 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421842513
• ISBN-13: 978-1421842516
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars PART ONE of The Champdoce Mystery, June 2, 2011

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Patto (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Caught in the Net (Dodo Press) (Paperback)

CAUGHT IN THE NET and THE CHAMPDOCE MYSTERY form one continuous story. It's annoying that the publisher gives no hint of this relationship. But such is the nature of print-on-demand publishers who know what they sell.

Both books were originally published in 1868 under one title: LES ESCLAVES DES PARIS (THE SLAVES OF PARIS).

In any case, these two books offer a complex tale of crime and retribution well worth reading. And the Dodo Press editions offer a clear, readable format.

CAUGHT IN THE NET introduces the reader to a blackmailing ring operating at the highest levels of society. The partners in this enterprise employ an amazing network of spies to uncover the dreadful secrets of the oldest and wealthiest families in Paris. Many a cook, maid or footmen in an aristocratic household is in their pay.

Two projects are underway in CAUGHT IN THE NET. A lovely young heiress will be tricked into marrying a penniless rake. And a weak young man will be passed off as the missing son of a duke. Funds will flow into the coffers of the syndicate as a result of these maneuvers, if they succeed.

As these threats mature, the reader is treated to a plethora of Parisian types, from frivolous women of fashion and empty-headed fops to wily street urchins and faithful family retainers. Our heroine is the noble-hearted young heiress. Our hero is the hard-working high-minded young artist she secretly loves.

The lead villain in these books is the illusive Mascarin. He is not only fascinating in and of himself, but as a later influence on Arthur Conan Doyle, who borrowed some of Mascarin's characteristics to create Professor Moriarty.

Gaboriau is a talented nineteenth-century writer who has fallen undeservedly into obscurity. Anyone interested in the evolution of the detective novel, or the novel in general, should find his books of great interest.