The Phantom of the Opera newspaper articles and interviews relating to the Paris Opera House, and the character Erik (the phantom) who fills the roles of the "mad genius", disfigured monster, and one of three in a love triangle all at once. Fitzpatrick argues that all of these elements make the book good for light reading. Myers agrees that the novel makes for a good "airplane read", but says that it fails in terms of being a good mystery novel. She claims that one of the book's downfalls is that one of the important characters - the mysterious Persian - is introduced too late in
The Phantom of the Opera had already gained credibility as a crime mystery author in both French and English speaking countries. He had written six novels prior, two of which had garnered substantial popularity within their first year of publication called "The Mystery of the Yellow Room" and "The Perfume of the Lady in Black". Although previous commentators have asserted that "The Phantom of the Opera" did not attain as much success as these previous novels, being particularly unpopular in France where it was first published, recent research into the novel's early reception and sales has indicated the contrary. One book review from the New