Le Crime de l'omnibus

by Fortuné du Boisgobey

Une femme d�c�de myst�rieusement dans un omnibus, sans qu'aucun passager ne le remarque. Paul Freneuse, artiste-peintre en vogue et t�moin de la sc�ne, entame une enqu�te informelle, avec un de ses amis...Fortun� Du Boisgobey, contemporain d'�mile Gaboriau, est un des pr�curseurs du roman policier. Au del� d'une intrigue assez classique, bien que novatrice pour l'�poque, Du Boisgobey nous emm�ne, � travers les p�r�grinations de nos 2 h�ros, dans un Paris d�licieusement vieillot, o� les omnibus �taient encore tract�s par des chevaux et o� naissait d�j� la nostalgie des vieux quartiers... Ce voyage dans le temps est un agr�ment de ce livre, en sus de l'intrigue polici�re.

362 pages, Paperback

Published February 26, 2020

About the author

Fortuné du Boisgobey was born at Granville (Manche), and graduated from the Lycée Saint-Louis. He served as paymaster to the Army of Africa through several campaigns in Algeria from 1844 to 1848. His parents were wealthy, yet at forty or upwards, he took to writing.

In 1843, using the name Fortuné Abraham-Dubois, he made his literary debut in the Journal d'Avranches with a series entitled Lettres de Sicile recounting a voyage he had taken the year before. His first successful novel, Les Deux comédiens appeared in 1868, under the du Boisgobey pen name in the Petit Journal. The story was popular, and M. Paul Dalloz of the Petit Moniteur signed a contract with the author for seven years at 12,000ƒ a year. His reputation was increased by the publication of Une Affaire mystérieuse and Le Forçat colonel, both published there in 1869. In 1877, Figaro engaged him for a series of novels, which increased the success of that paper. He was prolific, with more than sixty works to his name, and became one of the most popular feuilleton writers. In 1885 and 1886 he was President of the Committee of the Société des gens de lettres. Du Boisgobey died in 1891 after a long illness.

(Source: Wikipedia)