1900. Translated from the French. Gaboriau was the first French novelist to write detective novels. His character Monsieur Lecog, private detective, first appeared in this novel, The Widow Lerouge. The story begins: On Thursday, the 6th of March, 1862, two days after Shrove Tuesday, five women of the village of Jonchere presented themselves at the bureau of Police at Bougival. They stated that for two days past no one had seen the Widow Lerouge, one of their neighbors, who lived by herself in an isolated cottage. The house was shut up. Several persons had knocked without receiving an answer. The window-shutters as well as the door were closed; and it was impossible to obtain even a glimpse of the interior. This state of affairs alarmed them. Apprehensive of a crime, or at the least an accident, they demanded the interference of justice to satisfy their doubts by forcing the door and entering the house. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.