L'affaire Lerouge vs Murder at the Dinner Party: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: Mystery

L'affaire Lerouge Émile Gaboriau · 1800 ★★★★☆ 3.8 478 pages · ≈ 8 h 51 m · Challenging

“ON Thursday, the 6th of March, 1862, two days after Shrove Tuesday, five women of the village of Jonchere presented themselves at the bureau of police at Bougival.”

Le jeudi 6 mars 1862, surlendemain du Mardi gras, cinq femmes du village de La Jonchere se presentaient au bureau de police de Bougival.

Fiction

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Murder at the Dinner Party C.J. Archer ★★★★☆ 4.4 288 pages · ≈ 5 h 20 m · Moderate

The staff in high society households are expected to be unobtrusive, but a dead butler in the dining room tends to get noticed. Did he die of natural causes or was he poisoned?    Cleo is hired by the…

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Side by side

The verdict

Readers rate Murder at the Dinner Party highest: Murder at the Dinner Party 4.4 · L'affaire Lerouge 3.8.
Murder at the Dinner Party is the quickest read — about 5 hours vs 8 for L'affaire Lerouge.
L'affaire Lerouge has the widest readership — 635 ratings behind its score.

How to choose

Want a one-evening read? Murder at the Dinner Party ≈ 5h vs 8h for L'affaire Lerouge Just want the better-reviewed one? Murder at the Dinner Party 4.4 vs 3.8 from readers New to the genre? Murder at the Dinner Party Moderate vs Challenging for L'affaire Lerouge

Scores by source

	L'affaire Lerouge	Murder at the Dinner Party
Goodreads	3.8 (635)	—
Hardcover	—	3.8 (6)
Apple Books	—	4.5 (179)

Reception

	L'affaire Lerouge	Murder at the Dinner Party
Ratings	635	179
Editions	148	—
Want to read	1038	—
Written reviews	106	—
Pages	478	288

Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: L'affaire Lerouge or Murder at the Dinner Party?

Murder at the Dinner Party has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Murder at the Dinner Party 4.4/5, L'affaire Lerouge 3.8/5).

Which is shorter to read: L'affaire Lerouge or Murder at the Dinner Party?

Murder at the Dinner Party is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Murder at the Dinner Party (288 pages, ≈ 5 h 20 m); L'affaire Lerouge (478 pages, ≈ 8 h 51 m).

Which is harder to read: L'affaire Lerouge or Murder at the Dinner Party?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — L'affaire Lerouge: Challenging; Murder at the Dinner Party: Moderate.