The Golden Triangle

What It's About

Set in Paris during the First World War, the story opens with wounded army captain Patrice Belval intervening to stop the kidnapping of Coralie, a volunteer nurse he has fallen in love with. The rescue draws them both into a much older and darker conspiracy: a mysterious murder, a fortune of three hundred million francs in gold hidden somewhere in the city, and a shadowy enemy operating undetected under the eyes of the Paris police. As the danger closes in around Coralie, help arrives from an unexpected quarter — a man calling himself Don Luis Perenna, who is soon revealed to be none other than Arsène Lupin, believed dead, returning to unravel a mystery that reaches back years before the war began.

Key Concepts

The novel blends Leblanc's usual cat-and-mouse detective plotting with the backdrop of the First World War, weaving in wounded soldiers, hospital life, and wartime Paris alongside its central mystery of murder and hidden treasure. It is also notable as a comeback title for Lupin, who reappears here in disguise after having seemingly retired or died in earlier volumes of the series.

About the Author

Maurice Leblanc (1864–1941) was a French novelist and short-story writer, best remembered as the creator of the gentleman-thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often regarded as a French counterpart to Sherlock Holmes. Trained briefly in law before turning to journalism and fiction, he found only modest success with his early novels until Lupin's debut in 1905 made him one of the most popular writers of his era.