Description
Book SynopsisWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY MATTHEW PEARL
Edgar Allan Poe invented detective fiction with these three mesmerising stories of a young eccentric named C. Auguste Dupin: ''The Murders in the Rue Morgue'', ''The Mystery of Marie Rogêt'' and ''The Purloined Letter''. Dorothy L. Sayers would later describe these tales as ''almost a complete manual of detective theory and practice''. Indeed, Poe''s short mysteries inspired the creation of countless literary sleuths, among them Sherlock Holmes. Today the unique Dupin stories still stand out as utterly engrossing page-turners.
This edition includes the definitive text of these stories and an introduction and appendix on ''The Earliest Detectives'' by Matthew Pearl.
Trade ReviewThe best detective in fiction...Dupin is unrivalled -- Arthur Conan Doyle
Poe's blackly ingenious tale of brutal murder in 19th-century Paris establishes C. Auguste Dupin, a man of 'peculiar analytic ability', as the model for pretty much every intellectual detective to come -- The Ultimate Reading List * Sunday Telegraph *
For their supernatural grotesquerie and graveyard doom,[Poe's stories] foreshadow Stephen King and the "southern gothic" of Truman Capote... his work continues to enthral. His greatest tales radiate a dark humour and mockery that strike an oddly modern note. * Sunday Times *
If genius is an exceptional capacity for imaginative creation, Poe had it in spades. With Dupin in
The Murders In The Rue Morgue, he created the first detective story before the word 'detective' existed * Daily Mail *
The modern horror novel owes an enormous debt to Poe, and the novel of psychological horror owes him almost everything * Spectator *
