The Triumphs of Eugène Valmont (1906) is a collection of lively, enjoyable stories about a French detective resident in London.
Whether dealing with a gang of anarchists in âThe Siamese Twin of a Bomb-Throwerâ or flirting with the supernatural in âThe Ghost with the Club-Footâ, the resourceful M. Valmont rarely loses his sang-froid and self-confidence. He may not always catch the criminal but his sense of style and Poirot-like conceit remain intact.
Valmont is one of the most successful of the Edwardian eraâs many rivals to Sherlock Holmes. His cases do not demand feats of Sherlockian deduction but the wit and energy with which Robert Barr tells them mean that the assorted triumphs of Eugene Valmont will continue to delight readers in the twenty-first century.