Gaboriau was born in the small town of
Saujon, Charente-Maritime. He became a secretary to
Paul Féval, and after publishing some novels and miscellaneous writings, found his real gift in
L'Affaire Lerouge (
1866). The book, which was Gaboriau's first detective novel, introduced an amateur detective. It also introduced a young police officer named
Monsieur Lecoq, who was the hero in three of Gaboriau's later detective novels.
Monsieur Lecoq was based on a real-life thief turned police officer,
Eugène François Vidocq (
1775-1857), whose memoirs,
Les Vrais Mémoires de Vidocq, mixed fiction and fact. It may also have been influenced by the villainous Monsieur Lecoq, one of the main protagonists of Féval's
Les Habits Noirs book series. The book was published in the
Pays and at once made his reputation. Gaboriau gained a huge following, but when
Arthur Conan Doyle created
Sherlock Holmes, Monsieur Lecoq's international fame declined. The story was produced on the stage in
1872. A long series of novels dealing with the annals of the police court followed, and proved very popular. Gaboriau died in
Paris of
pulmonary apoplexy.
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