he was unhappy about his success as the author of adventure novels and soon tried to gain literary recognition with social satires such as Le Tueur de Tigres (1853), but in vain. He returned to popular literature with more swashbucklers such as La Louve (1855) (a sequel to his earlier Le Loup Blanc) and L'Homme de Fer (1856). His biggest success in the genre was Le Bossu (1857) in which a prodigious swordsman, Henri de Lagardère, disguises himself as a hunchback to avenge his friend the Duke de Nevers, murdered by the villainous Prince de Gonzague. It features the famous motto: "If you don't come to Lagardère, Lagardère will come to you." Le Bossu has been the subject of half-a-dozen feature film adaptations and a number of sequels, written by Féval's son. That same year, with Les Compagnons du Silence, Féval returned to the theme of criminal conspiracies. It was followed by Jean Diable (1862), arguably the first modern crime thriller. In it, Scotland Yard Chief Superintendent Gregory Temple is mystified by the actions of a supremely gifted crime leader who hides behind the identity of John Devil. In 1862, Féval founded the magazine Jean Diable, named after his eponymous novel. One of its editors was Émile Gaboriau, future creator of the police detective Monsieur Lecoq, a hero seemingly unrelated to the villainous Lecoq of the Habits Noirs first introduced by Féval. Gaboriau's Lecoq later influenced Conan Doyle's creation of Sherlock Holmes. In 1863, Féval embarked on his masterpiece, Les Habits Noirs, a sprawling criminal saga written over a twelve-year period, comprising seven novels. He retroactively incorporated Les Mystères de Londres, Les Compagnons du Silence (itself a sequel to an earlier work, Bel Demonio (1850)) and Jean Diable into the chronology of Les Habits Noirs, creating a veritable human comedy of evil and secret conspiracies. By its methods, themes and characters, Les Habits Noirs is the precursor of today's conspiracy and organized crime novels. Féval's heroes, from Gregory Temple, the first detective, to Remy d'Arx, the investigative magistrate who pursues the Habits Noirs, are also the first modern heroes of their kind. In 1865, Féval became President of the Société des Gens de Lettre (Society of Authors), a position he kept until 1868. He was President again from 1874 to 1876. In 1865, Féval also wrote La Vampire, a seminal text featuring the perversely charismatic Countess Addhema, the first and