The Slaves of Paris

Behind the respectable facades of Second Empire Paris runs a quiet trade in other people’s secrets, and the man pulling the strings knows exactly what a reputation is worth. Gaboriau’s 1868 novel, often published in English in two parts beginning with Caught in the Net, traces a web of blackmail that entangles a struggling young woman, an ambitious lover, and several families desperate to keep their pasts hidden. Less a tidy puzzle than a study of greed and social climbing, it turns the city itself into a marketplace where money and information change hands in the shadows. Readers can pick it up now as a free PDF and EPUB.