With the novel “London Mysteries” by Paul Henri Feval (1817–1887), an unknown work of our translated literature returns to the Russian reader. It is hardly possible to determine the genre of this novel, since it partly contains a detective story (albeit without the usual investigation), and adventure (albeit without a chase), and a love-romantic intrigue that ties together all the intricacies of the plot. The lives of the beauties of the London aristocracy are intricately intertwined here with the machinations and crimes of classic villains, seeking to influence the life of London through their evil genius. On land and at sea , in England and Australia, in old castles and underground, in Scotland and even on the island of St. Helena, there are numerous heroes of the novel, representing different layers of English society of the first half of the 19th century. If you are one of those people who are happy to while away the evening - another in the Crown Tavern with the honorable captain Peddy O'Cran and the beautiful Susannah, who somehow ended up next to the dirty and rude customers; or trace the mysterious fate of the richest and most influential of the high society people, the Marquis of Rio Santo; or to penetrate, together with the noble Frank Perceval, into the secret of the dungeon of Crewes Castle, where his sister Harriet... and so on, and so on - then feel free to open the book and start reading.