Monsieur Lecoq (novel) - Themes and Characteristics

Themes and Characteristics

One of the salient features of detective fiction that is prominent in Monsieur Lecoq is the art of disguise. It is the mark of a good detective, and Lecoq is a master of disguise. Gaboriau also establishes a contrast that was to characterise later detective fiction: the distinction between policemen and amateur detectives. Lecoq has a passion for detection, but he is preoccupied with professional success, while Tabaret carries out detective work without remuneration for the satisfaction and pleasure it provides him. Gaboriau’s detectives differ from other detectives in their fallibility. Bonnoit stresses that while they are geniuses of detection, they are not supermen like Dupin or Sherlock Holmes. Goulet highlights the prominence of logical reasoning in Gaboriau, which is a feature of the writing of most detective fiction authors. Gunning considers that Lecoq is the first instance of a detective meticulously scouring a crime scene. He also states that Gaboriau, with Lecoq, ‘introduces detailed visual scrutiny to the genre,’ eliciting an account of past events from inanimate objects. Lecoq does not merely look at objects, he reads them. The novel also introduces elements of detection as science, which was later pursued by Sherlock Holmes. Lecoq compares the work of a detective to that of a naturalist, and resolves to observe Mai as minutely as a naturalist examines an insect under a microscope.