"The First Detective"

For the first time on the Classic Mysteries podcast, I won't be reviewing a work of detective/crime fiction this week. Instead, I want to share a non-fiction book with you that is based on fact, or at least as close to fact as it may be possible to get with the biography of a remarkably slippery subject. The book is "The First Detective: The Life and Revolutionary Times of Vidocq, Criminal, Spy and Private Eye," by James Morton. You can listen to the full audio review by clicking here.

Who, exactly, was Vidocq? Eugene-Francois Vidocq, born in 1775, was a career French criminal, a thief, a possible forger and an escape artist who managed frequent escapes from the many prisons into which he was thrown. Eventually, seeing no future in that kind of life, he became a police spy and informer. He then rose through the ranks of the police - using his former criminal informants, in turn, as informers and aides. Eventually, he left the police and formed what Morton describes as the first private detective agency. As an investigator, he also developed some of the techniques which would form the basis for modern forensic science.

Vidocq was the inspiration for a great many fictional characters. Victor Hugo used him as the model for two of the principal characters in "Les Miserables" - both the convict-hero Jean Valjean and Valjean's nemesis, Inspector Javert. He was Poe's inspiration for the first true fictional detective character, C. Auguste Dupin, and for many other characters in early mystery and crime fiction, such as Maurice LeBlanc's Arsene Lupin. Morton cites Vidocq's influence on various characters created by such authors as Balzac, Dickens and Melville. Even Sherlock Holmes may owe his propensity for using disguises and makeup to Vidocq, who employed those techniques all the time.

Morton takes this story and presents "The First Detective" almost as a picaresque novel, for, as he cheerfully admits, it is extremely difficult to piece together the reality of Vidocq's biography from all the different versions and anecdotes passed along, not only by Vidocq in his own memoirs, but by his associates and his enemies in theirs. The result, however, is a thoroughly researched, lively and entertaining book, packed with anecdote after anecdote about this thief turned thief-catcher. Originally published in the U. K. in 2004, this edition has just been published in the United States by the Overlook Press, which made a copy available for this review.

Comments

[Yvette]

This looks like something I'd enjoy reading, Les. I'm adding the title to my TBR list. Arsene Lupin. That name always pops into my head when I'm thinking very very early detectives, but I'd always thought he was an invention of Poe. Even when I checked and saw that he wasn't, I still can't let go of the idea. I'm stubborn even when I'm wrong. :)

Since you occasionally read non-fiction, I'd like to recommend AGENT ZIGZAG by Ben MacIntyre. All about a thief turned double agent in WWII. I loved it.

[Les Blatt]

That sounds like an interesting one, Yvette - I'll have to add it to my groaning board of TBRs...

Arsene Lupin is great fun. He is a "gentleman thief," rather than a detective, though he's usually on the side of good and right (as long as you don't define "the law" as necessarily good and right!). I've reviewed a couple of books featuring Arsene Lupin - a novel, "813," and a loose collection of stories called "Arsene Lupin: Gentleman Thief." You'll find both audio reviews linked under their author's name, Maurice LeBlanc, on my backlist page. And Lupin does, in many ways, remind me of Vidocq! Enjoy!