Émile Gaboriau’s methodical detective Monsieur Lecoq (“Mr. Rooster”) of the Sûreté was inspired by the real-life thief turned police officer Eugène François Vidocq.
Set primarily in a series of small towns on the Seine that are now suburbs of Paris, The Mystery of Orcival revolves around a love triangle consisting of the wealthy Clement Sauvresy; his beautiful but modestly born wife, Bertha; and his old college friend, Count Hector de Tremorel. Stricken with a sudden illness, Sauvresy begs the other two to marry after his death, which they do. The couple live happily until the body of the Countess is found floating in the Seine by a poacher named Bertaud and, a short time later, the Count’s body is also found. While suspicion falls upon Guespin, a gardener on their estate, Monsieur Lecoq launches an investigation and sets in motion the climactic hunt for the true murderer.
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“Of its class of romance—French sensational—this is a remarkable and unique specimen.”
— Harper’s
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Émile Gaboriau (1832–1873) was a French novelist and journalist who pioneered detective fiction long before anyone had heard the name “Sherlock Holmes.”
Arthur Morey has won three AudioFile Magazine “Best Of” Awards, and his work has garnered numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and placed him as a finalist for two Audie Awards. He has acted in a number of productions, both off Broadway in New York and off Loop in Chicago. He graduated from Harvard and did graduate work at the University of Chicago. He has won awards for his fiction and drama, worked as an editor with several book publishers, and taught literature and writing at Northwestern University. His plays and songs have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Milan, where he has also performed.