The Honor of the Name by Émile Gaboriau

The Honor of the Name Reviews

• 
  Dagny

  Sequel to Monsieur Lecoq. It happened that I read this one first, and that might have been why I didn't enjoy it as much since I missed the story set-up.
  
  Louis XVIII has once again returned to power and the emigres are returing to France to reclaim the lands and fortunes they had relinquished. The Duc de Sairmeuse is returning to his tiny hamlet where the now widowed Lacheneur has been managing his estate for twenty years, so long that he is currently living in the chateau as owner. The duke is a snobbish tyrant of the old school and mortally offends the good Lacheneur who leaves the estate with only his daughter, not even allowing her to collect her clothing and other belongings. The duke's son, Martial, is very attracted to Lacheneur's daughter, Marie-Anne, who is secretly engaged to a baron's son, Maurice.
• 
  Hung Nguyen

  Phần 2 của Monsieur Lecoq, chủ yếu phần tiền truyện về mối hận thù giữa hai nhà d'Escorval và Sairmeuse. Nhìn chung là khá lôi cuốn, đầy twist, mỗi tội một số đoạn hơi drama quá, đúng kiểu các tác phẩm cổ điển hồi xưa. 4⭐️
• 
  S. L.

  Sherlockians will find similarities between these two novels ( Monsieur Lecoq and The Honor of the Name) and A Study in Scarlet. They will also recognize this as the particular case of Lecoq which Holmes complains about; he supposedly 'could have solved it in 24 hours'. This is also the book which contains the most personal information about Lecoq ; he tends to make cameo appearances in the other mysteries. For more information on Lecoq's personal life, you should also see File No 113
• 
  Ben

  Hb, Scribner's. Good.
• 
  Susan

  Read about 60% then decided I was just not interessted enough in the story to finish.
• 
  B. Zedan

  And here is all the epic backstory of Monsieur Lecoq. As usual, the second book of Gaboriau's is stronger, because you watch the lines being gathered in. There is so much history and hatred that nothing is truly resolved until the last bit. Lots of Restoration antics and outcries and worry woven in as well.
• 
  Rick

  What is this doing in a collection of detective fiction? For most of the book there is no detective at all, amateur or professional. Then a P.I. shows up, but he just collects bribes and does no actual detecting at all. Then finally, in the last two chapters, there's a cop who figures everything out, but by that time the story is over.
  This is not a detective story! It's one of those French novels where the author isn't satisfied 'til everyone has died unhappily. That said, it is fairly compelling. I kept reading to see how the characters would get out of the messes they had gotten themselves into (SPOILER ALERT mostly by getting into even bigger messes). The characters are fairly well-drawn examples of early modern Types, and I developed a small fondness for some of them. It wraps up a little too quickly, though. After spending most of its length dealing with the events of a single year, towards the end it suddenly jumps twenty years into the future, leaving us to say "Hey, I wasn't finished with the present yet!" So it isn't ultimately as satisfying as I would have liked, but still not a bad read.