Detective Fryga on track. Henryk Nagiel’s "Tajemnica Nalewek" ("Mystery of Nalewki") and "Sęp" ("Vulture")

Abstract

Nagiel’s novels have not attracted researchers’ attention, except for some references to works devoted to the development of mystery novels in Poland, the image of Warsaw in Polish literature of the 19th century, or the history of Polish immigrant society press. When writing his crime novels – Tajemnica Nalewek and Sęp – the author followed the example of foreign novels, mainly English and French ones. The main character of his crime novels, detective Fryga, is not the scientist type who investigates data in his quiet office, library or laboratory. He resembles Vidocq and one of his literary counterparts, the character of Gaboriau’s novel – policeman Lecoq. In his investigation, he owes a lot to coincidence and luck; he is active, energetic and creative, trying to speed up events, he takes the initiative in the fight against crime. In Nagiel’s novels, mystery not only is connected with the motif of crime, the secret behind the crime and an attempt to solve it, but also seems to be an inherent element of the world. The world created by Nagiel is dark, complex and anxiety-provoking. Solving the crime stories and punishing culprits mean the triumph of justice, social order and convention, but they do not eliminate the sense of threat.