Darkstar
9th January 2005, 06:11 PM
The First Detective by James Morton
This is the story of Eugene Francois Vidocq (1775-1857) an 18th century crook turned detective turned private eye. He published his memoirs in 1828, but these often depended more on his powers of imagination than of recall.
I found Morton’s writing style strangely dissatisfying – I kept looking for analysis and found none although it’s not meant to be a scholarly work. But perhaps it was because Morton’s subject is not particularly engaging. This is not the story of a wrongfully imprisoned man making good, but of an amoral opportunist, never the most attractive of characters to read about.
There is an extensive bibliography.
This is the story of Eugene Francois Vidocq (1775-1857) an 18th century crook turned detective turned private eye. He published his memoirs in 1828, but these often depended more on his powers of imagination than of recall.
I found Morton’s writing style strangely dissatisfying – I kept looking for analysis and found none although it’s not meant to be a scholarly work. But perhaps it was because Morton’s subject is not particularly engaging. This is not the story of a wrongfully imprisoned man making good, but of an amoral opportunist, never the most attractive of characters to read about.
There is an extensive bibliography.