Customer Reviews

The Mystery of the Yellow Room (Dedalus European Classics)

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Many years ago author John Dickson Carr claimed that "The Mystery of the Yellow Room" was "the best detective tale ever written". While I would probably choose one of the novels of John Dickson Carr as my all-time favorite, I can wholeheartedly endorse this book by Gaston Leroux. It is clearly one of the best. The famous attack which takes place in a locked room is in itself worth the price of the book. That is not all that the book has to offer, though. There is also the amazing disappearance of the villain with pursuers literally two steps behind him. I challenge anyone to guess the solution. Read this book yourself and I am sure you will agree: Gaston Leroux created a masterpiece with "The Mystery of the Yellow Room".

Mlle. Strangerson, the daughter of a famous scientist, is brutally attacked in her bedroom. The window is barred, and the door is double bolted. No one, it seems, could have left the room. However, somehow, he did, leaving strange clues - a bloody imprint of a hand on the wall, a cap, and a hankerchief.
MYSTERY OF THE YELLOW ROOM is pure genius. Leroux winds and twists together meticoulous detail, interesting psychology, and seemingly impossible occurrences that produce a truly enjoyable and schocking finale. This is a wonderful read, and it is great for a rainy day.
MYSTERY OF THE YELLOW ROOM is an extremely influential book, though it is now virtually forgotten. It is one of the first locked-room mysteries, and it inspired Agatha Christie to write her first book.

I'm not a mystery buff, but the premise of The Mystery of the Yellow Room is intriguing. How could someone commit a crime in a sealed room, then vanish without a trace? To find out the answer, you have to have patience; Leroux feeds you with little tid-bits - just enough to keep you reading - then at long last reveals everything. This is not a book in which the detective openly discusses his ideas and connections, but that makes the end more satisfying (by which I mean you'll be hitting yourself in the forehead, saying, "why didn't I think of that?"). It's not a light read, but follow through and it's worth it.

This novel was considered by John Dickson Carr to be the best locked room mystery of all time, and I agree its one of the best. Next to the Phantom of the Opera, this is Gaston Leroux's most famous novel, and the one which introduces Joeseph Rouletabille.

Mathilde Strangerson was alone in her room. She had locked her self into the Yellow Room, which was right beside her father's laboratory. The doors were locked and bolted, the windows were bolted, and it was impossible to enter the room. Some how though, and invisible man walked through a locked door and atacked Mathilde. When her father forced open the door, Mathilde lay on the ground, beaten and strangled, and the room was empty.

Before long, the French detective Fredrick Larson had come to solve this mystery. But one person stood in his way. 18 reporter-detective Joeseph Rouletabille had also decided to solve this mystery, and would soon uncover a secret bigger then any thing any one ever expected.

"Le mystère de la chambre jaune" ("The Mystery of the Yellow Room") is one of the most famous "locked room mysteries," where a crime is committed in apparently impossible situations. In this classic French detective novel written in 1907 by Gaston Leroux (1868-1927), best known for his thriller "The Phantom of the Opera" (1911), a young journalist Joseph Rouletabille (only 18 years old) volunteers to solve the most puzzling case of an attempted murder committed in "The Yellow Room," in which Mademoiselle Stangerson, a beautiful daughter of a famous scientist is found seriously injured. No one was discovered in the locked room. No one was seen escaping from there. So what really happened?

The novel is a remarkable feat as it features as many as three mysteries based on the "locked room" situations. I am not allowed to reveal the details of them here. Though some part of the mysteries is far-fetched, everything is logically explained in the end. Characters are also interesting, most notably Joseph Rouletabille, a young, confident reporter who has a mixed feeling of admiration and rivalry towards respected police detective Frederic Larsan.

Before you read "The Mystery of the Yellow Room," you must keep one thing in mind. Like novels of Émile Gaboriau, one of the pioneers of detective novels (or the second part of Conan Doyle's first Holmes novel for that matter), the story itself, especially the characters' back stories, is often melodramatic.

"The Mystery of the Yellow Room" is a real page-turner. For modern readers the novel sometimes look dated, but it is still a fun read.

Leroux's story, in this writer's opinion, truly tops those of Doyle. It's a seemingly impossible case to solve, so complex that a diagram of the house has to be inserted in the book, and the outcome is surprising. Do not be thrown off by Leroux's seemingly clunky writing -- a complaint many have had with his other famous novel "The Phantom of the Opera." Leroux was originally a journalist, and even as an author, found it more comfortable to write his fiction as though they were written by a journalist, perhaps for a newspaper.

There are a couple of odd things that I guess just don't translate into English. One, throughout the entire novel they discuss "the murder of Mmme. Stangerson" -- though in fact it was simply an attempted murder. For many chapters I was trying to figure out how Mmme. Stangerson could be talking if she was murdered.

Also, my diagram seems to be missing a crucial number explaining where one of the windows is. While this is frustrating, it is fully possible to enjoy the novel anyway. I highly recommend this book, whether you're a Leroux fan, a mystery fan, or a fan of early 20th century fiction.

The plot of "The Mystery of the Yellow Room" is very clever, but the details of its execution depend on so many "near misses" (whether they be flying bullets or close escapes into the dark) and coincidences that it weakens its impact. Leroux's prose (in translation) is dry, unengaging and unevocative. My guess is that the original French prose was just as dull. It is a chore to get through his admixture of present, past, and past perfect tenses all piled one upon another telegrammatically. Some great eloquent story teller, I believe, could have given the story a rich enjoyable texture rather than leaving it as a barren, almost academic "brain teaser". The characters are only given so much dimension as to fit with the final solution but no other hints of humanity. Some of the motivations are silly indeed: for example, the young detective is willing to allow a second murderous assault on the victim just so he can get a better look at the villain's face!!! By the way, I figured out why the victim would not help the police apprehend her attacker, although I did not discover who he was. She did not know exactly who the attacker was because of a series of contrived situations that prevented her from coming face to face with the attacker despite many possible opportunities. That was really far-fetched! In short, The Mystery of the Yellow Room was a great first draft for a potentially great novel. One final question: If you are chasing a villain and he pulls off his fake beard and wig, do you suddenly have no clue that the person before you is the same one you have just been chasing, especially if he has been out of sight for only seconds?

Often wordy and requiring a little concentration, its style is reminiscent of the author's much more popular novel, Phantom of the Opera.

This THE best mystery that ever took place in the locked-up room. You are going to like this Rouletabill; he is not a detective, but a journalist!!! He slowly starts to untangle the strings of mystery of the yellow room. You will be drawn into the book by this character made by Leroux, every time Rouletabill finds a clue, every time he puts the pieces together, and every time he attempts to catch the murder. The murder occured in the yellow room is already mysterius, but theres more. This book is full of the starnge happeneings and in the end, they are all explained by no other than Rouletabill, and MAN it felt good!!! I will garantee you will be suprized by the ending of this book, bye bye to Sherlock Holmes, he'll be out of job in no time!!!

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