Marcel Allain, Pierre Souvestre - Fantomas

"A great romp." - San Francisco Chronicle. A noblewoman is murdered in her chateau, a Russian princess robbed in a posh hotel, and a lord's corpse found inside a trunk - all clearly the foul deeds of Fantômas, the diabolical master of disguise whose depravities paralyze Parisians with terror. Praised by The Village Voice as "a legendary crime novel," Fantômas was the first in a series of wildly popular French thrillers.