The Golden Triangle by Maurice LeblancMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Every Lupin book is a little different, but this is one of a group of at least three, written around the same time, that have some strong similarities. We get a long period of setup during which Lupin isn't even mentioned, then someone calls him in as a consulting problem-solver. By this time, we've had drama amounting to melodrama, intense love (often involving someone married to someone else), intense hatred (generally involving the someone else), tragedy, treachery, and patriotism; it couldn't be more French if you fried it in butter and stuck a tricolour flag in it.
In this one, you have sinister Levantines, hidden gold, two people who discover that a mysterious benefactor has been working for years to bring them together, murder, the backdrop of the Great War, a courageous but headstrong protagonist, and, of course, the extreme cleverness and Peter-Pan-like crowing of Lupin as he solves the mystery. It's all thrilling and sensational, if sometimes a bit too much so.
Unfortunately, we also have a black colonial soldier who is literally treated like a dog (he's largely unable to talk because of a war wound, so the protagonist pretends to have discussions with him when thinking aloud, as you would with a pet); he's several times called something that is deeply offensive these days, and (view spoiler). That does introduce a flaw into what is otherwise a rip-roaring novel of action, mystery and suspense.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment