Guest Review - The Murders in Rue Morgue – Edgar Allan Poe

Hello readers of Annamarie’s Book Blog!

Release Date: first published April 4th 1841 

Series: C. Auguste Dupin series

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In just five stories, Edgar Allan Poe laid down most of the ground rules of detective fiction. In the three tales featuring Auguste Dupin ('The Murders in the Rue Morgue', 'The Mystery of Marie Roget' and 'The Purloined Letter') he created the Great Detective, not to mention the locked-room mystery, the notion of armchair detection and the secret-service story; 'The Gold Bug' revolved around the use of cyphers; and 'Thou Art the Man' made use of false clues and the least likely suspect.

Just a quick introduction – I’m Cazz from Loaded Shelves and I review all kinds of books from YA to classical literature. I recently had a chat with Annamarie and she kindly offered me a space to guest blog over here :) So here I am with my spoiler-free thoughts on Edgar Allan Poe’s short story ‘The Murders in Rue Morgue.’

I’m fairly new to detective fiction (other than Arthur Conan Doyle, of course) so I wasn’t sure what to expect from the short story, however I am a fan of Poe’s writing. The writing in The Murders in Rue Morgue was a little complex and occasionally difficult to understand which I have come to expect from detective fiction. The analytical aspects of detective fiction take a lot of considering! Unlike some other Poe works I have read, this story didn’t have any supernatural overtones and was an interesting take on a fairly locked-room scenario.

I found it difficult to get past the introduction to the story and I was initially worried that I wasn’t going to enjoy it at all, but luckily that wasn’t the case and after a while I was absorbed in the case. The ‘witness evidence’ was interesting and of course not only develops the plotline but also starts giving out evidence for the reader to decipher for themselves.  I struggled with the French aspects occasionally and luckily, reading on the kindle helped me figure out some of the more obscure words more easily (both French and English).

The Murders in Rue Morgue was definitely a strange little story but one that is well worth reading if you like a good detective novel. Poe comes up with a great way of disposing the bodies anyway…! This story is real easy to find online, buy a cheap paperback copy or like me, get a version for a kindle/e-reader. I will shortly be reading and reviewing another of Poe’s ‘Dupin’ detective stories over at Loaded Shelves so if you’re interested, please come and stop by! :)