This is a good book, but I only wanted to know about the mystery opposed death, and I skipped to pretty late using an audiobook. The problem with this book is all the biographer had to go by was numerous letters that Poe had written to these women and the letters the women had written to him and this is all really boring. I don’t know who these women are I can’t keep track of them and I couldn’t care less about this part of the book. ( )

New bio of Poe. Raises possibility that he died of tubercular meningitis.

Well researched but doesn't solve the mystery of his death or his 3 days that are unaccounted for. Did rule out rabies and gas poisoning. Maybe TB? Buried the day after he died with no fanfare or even close friends. Body later moved to another spot in the Westminster Presbyterian cemetery in Baltimore. Brilliant but poor all his life and problems with alcohol. Cameos of other authors of the time. Orphaned at a young age, fostered by the Allan family, wife died at age 24, the same age as his mother.. ( )

I didn’t know much about this author, but I was introduced to him through his poem, The Tell Tail Heart. My son had to read it for school. As my son got older he learned more about Edgar Allen Poe that fascinated him and made him say, “He’s had a sad life, and oh, the mysteries behind his death. No one can agree on what happened to him” When the opportunity came available to read and review this book, I couldn’t turn it down. I wanted to find out more about the mysteries behind this man, his work and his death.

The author starts the book with Edgar Allan Poe’s death on October 7, 1849. The author says, …”at just forty, in a painful, utterly bizarre manner that would not have been out of place in one of his own tales of terror. What was the cause of his untimely death, and what happened to him during the three missing days before he was found…is a mystery.”

Oh, my, I had to know more. I read on. I couldn’t believe all the theories people had. One believed a brain tumor, someone else felt he was murdered, some thought it was suicide, others felt he was poisoned, and the list goes on.

The author touches on his childhood, education, and his mother’s and wife’s deaths. I like how this author wrote this book using some of Poe’s writings from the last months of his life and his own research. It’s fascinating that people are still trying to figure out how this man mysteriously died. I also liked how this author spotlighted some of his works, so readers interest would be peaked to read more. Maybe come up with their own theory.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I requested and received a copy of this book by the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins!
The Book Club Network blog https://psalm516.blogspot.com/ ( )

A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe
By Mark Dawidziak

I know I am not the only one that has tried to figure out what could have happened to Poe based on the scant knowledge and rumors that is known. Being a nurse and working in a drug rehab unit I thought sure he died of DT's. That can kill a person and make them delirious enough to possibly have different clothes. But I also knew doctors probably thought of this already and they have. No, he didn't die of that.

This book not only tells the very intimate and emotional story of his life but also goes through each myth and tells the truth. So many lies we have been told and we are told by who and why! So sad he was treated like this.

We are told of his active happy times, and his sad times. His achievements and struggles. His works and when and why he wrote them. This itself is interesting.

Many experts in many fields had united to piece together the time, place, science from DNA, and history, diaries, and more to come up with an answer as to what happened to Edgar Allan Poe! It was nothing I would have thought of because I don't have knowledge in all those fields and it took all that knowledge to come to this conclusion! All steps are explained.

This is an amazing book! I loved it! I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this wonderfully researched book! ( )