Classic French detective novel, first published in 1907. According to Wikipedia, "Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux (May 6, 1868 [1] – April 15, 1927) was a French journalist and author of detective fiction. In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel The Phantom of the Opera (Le Fantôme de l"Opéra, 1910), which has been made into several film and stage productions of the same name, such as the 1925 film starring Lon Chaney; and Andrew Lloyd Webber"s 1986 musical. Leroux"s contribution to French detective fiction is considered a parallel to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle"s in the United Kingdom and Edgar Allan Poe"s in the United States."