Although it is reasonable in itself, it is primarily interesting as a historical record. Supposedly the first detective story in modern literature, it comes across as a proto Sherlock Holmes: the clever, logical amateur sleuth, the loyal but dim sidekick, the bumbling policeman, the amazing resolution. Having said that, it is lacking in depth and subtlety. it also doesn't carry much of the gothic macabre that I was expecting from Poe. 20 June 2017. ( )

A mother and daughter are bafflingly and brutally murdered inside a locked room on Rue Morgue, and C. Auguste Dupin must apply his fine detective skills to piece together the mystery. Horror, madness, violence and the dark forces hidden in humanity abound in this collection of Poe's brilliant tales.

About the Author

George Bernard Shaw called him, 'the finest of finest of artists'; but Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) died alone in pain and poverty when he was only forty. Almost his last words were: 'I wish to God someone would blow my damned brains out.' - it is not difficult to see why some of his best-remembered stories are grotesque and macabre.