Emile Gaboriau (1832-1873) has often been dubbed the founding father of the modern detective novel. (Although Paul Féval certainly could have argued the case!) Gaboriau began his literary career as Féval's secretary. He invented the first procedural detective, Monsieur Lecoq of the Sûreté, who starred in L'Affaire Lerouge [The Lerouge Affair] (1866), Le Crime d'Orcival [The Orcival Crime] (1867), Le Dossier No.113 [File 113] (1867), Les Esclaves de Paris [The Slaves of Paris] (1867) and, finally, Monsieur Lecoq (1869). Sir Arthur Conan Doyle paid homage to Gaboriau when he first introduced Holmes and, indeed, Monsieur Lecoq is a worthy precursor to the Great Detective, who owes him more than a passing debt. Like Holmes, Lecoq is more than a mere crimesolver: he is a master of disguise with a secret identity in the Paris underworld.   novel: Monsieur Lecoq (2009) more on Gaboriau in: Shadowmen 1: Heroes and Villains of French Pulp Fiction (2003)