The Mystery of the Yellow Room

De: Gastón Leroux

Narrado por: Walter Covell

Gaston Leroux is best known for writing the novel The Phantom of the Opera. However, he also wrote some excellent detective stories. In fact, Leroux's contribution to French detective fiction is considered a parallel to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's in the United Kingdom and Edgar Allan Poe's in America.

In this, his most popular mystery, rival detectives try to crack the following case: Madamoiselle Stangerson retires to bed in the Yellow Room. Suddenly, revolver shots echo through the house and she screams for help. Her father and a servant run to the locked room where they find the wounded girl - alone. The only other exit, a window, is barred. How had the assailant escaped?

Public Domain (P)2009 Jimcin Recordings

A good mystery!

Easy read that kept my interest, at times I didn't want to put the book down. The ending made me want to read more - perhaps there's a second book"

Too Far Fetched.

Any additional comments?

Suspension of disbelief. It's required for all good works of fiction, and especially for a locked room mystery. It allows us to enjoy the fanciful world of Hobbits, life aboard an as yet fictitious star cruiser, magic, and much more. And even though we know that Hobbits and star cruisers aren't real, for the moment, we are transported there.

But there is a point at which suspension of disbelief goes from enjoyment to "this is just stupid". That's this book. In part, this book is a victim of it's age. The story did not age well, and audiences had lower standards back in the day. It IS a classic, and was well received when it was published.

And I have to say I did enjoy the beginning part of the book. But somewhere about midway through, I started losing interest as the plot became more and more implausible.