Oxford Popular Fiction
1 total work
"The Triumphs of Eugene Valmont" (1906) brings together tales of the multifarious exploits of Robert Barr's elegant and cunning sleuth, Valmont, a brilliantly ironic parody of Sherlock Holmes. "I may inform you, captain, that I am Eugene Valmont, chief detective of the French Government, and that all the police of France at this moment are under my control. I ask you, therefore, to be careful of your answers". Exhibiting the crucial combination of realism and imagination that characterizes the finest crime writing, the stories exude playfulness, blending mystery and quasi-Gothic thrills with humorous detours and romantic adventure. A notable figure in 1890s literary London and a friend of Conan Doyle, Barr was acutely aware of style as a form of statement and the stories are full of literary effects, commentary on the detective mystery genre and Valmont's disparaging reflections on English values. From the hilarious satire of sensationalism in "The Siamese Twin of a Bomb-Thrower" to the bizarre and operatic melodrama of "The Ghost with the Club-Foot", Barr's stories should delight the reader with their skill, variety, and never-abandoned sense of spirited fun.