From the Bookshelf of Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)…

The Murders in the Rue Morgue (C. Auguste Dupin, #1)

Edgar Allan Poe

Start date: June 1, 2015

Finish date: June 30, 2015

Why we're reading this: June 2015 Old School Classic Group Read
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Sep 23, 2023 Franky rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery, 2023-reading-challenge, classics, kindle, gothic, short-stories, crime

“…it should not be so much asked ‘what has occurred’ as ‘what has occurred that has never occurred before…” --- C. Auguste Dupin.

So my bias for Poe might surface repeatedly during this review, but Poe was a master at crafting so much suspense, the supernatural, the Gothic, the unnerving, and I’ve been wanting to get to some of his crime stories so much. I have heard of so many things about “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, and its basis for being the first modern detective story to be published, “…it should not be so much asked ‘what has occurred’ as ‘what has occurred that has never occurred before…” --- C. Auguste Dupin.

So my bias for Poe might surface repeatedly during this review, but Poe was a master at crafting so much suspense, the supernatural, the Gothic, the unnerving, and I’ve been wanting to get to some of his crime stories so much. I have heard of so many things about “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, and its basis for being the first modern detective story to be published, and have watched bits and pieces of several film versions and adaptations.

I am mostly likely going to be on an island on this one, but Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” reminded me quite a bit of an Arthur Donan Doyle Sherlock Holmes styled mystery, albeit in a graphic, disturbing and bizarre way.

The narrator reminded me quite a bit of Watson, who ends up boarding together with this fellow who is quite eccentric named Dupin, who solves crimes in a rather unusual way. They are sort of the parallels of the Watson and Holmes duo.

The basis of the crime comes into focus as they read a newspaper clipping: Two individuals, a mother and her daughter, have been brutally murdered in a rather uncanny way in their house in the Rue Morgue. The circumstances of their deaths have left most not only aghast, but perplexed and astounded.

The newspaper details several key witnesses to the aftermath of the crime, and the quite unusual and peculiar circumstances of the crime, but there does not seem to be much in the way of clues. This piques Dupin’s interest, and so, he makes it a point to go out of his way to visit the crime scene, front and center.

I love how Poe constructs this one, with Dupin heading to the crime scene to access the situation. There is sort of a “locked room mystery” about this crime story, with the apparent perpetrator and criminal having no apparent means of entering or exiting, yet still the crime occurred. Dupin delves into this little puzzle, and his theories and how he goes about solving are intriguing. In other ways, I love the procedural aspect to the solving of the crime that seems to be a staple of not only future print works but films.

While so many think that there are some “unbelievable” aspects and factors to “The Murder in the Rue Morgue”, I thought it was exception how Poe constructed this, and it really shows his versatility in writing. I’m looking forward to reading the subsequent Dupin stories from Poe.
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4 likes · Like · see review

Dec 11, 2020 RJ - Slayer of Trolls rated it liked it

Shelves: read-short-story

now I am the proudest monkey you've ever seen ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Dec 02, 2012 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: short-stories, fiction-19th-century, read-2012, american-fiction, victorians, vintage-crime

In this novel, Poe shows Auguste Dupin's ability as a detective since he was able to deduce not only what people were thinking but could also read a murder scene as though it were a book. ...more

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