This is a very well written literary mystery in which Edgar Allan Poe teams up with the fictional detective he created, Auguste Dupin, in order to investigate a mystery in London in 1840. Poe is receiving mysterious letters claiming to implicate his long deceased grandparents, Henry and Elizabeth Arnold, British actors on the London stage in the 1790s, in a series of bizarre crimes, a real historical series of attacks on ladies where their skirts were slit and their buttocks slashed by a knife-wielding man (nicknamed by the media the "London Monster"). Poe and Dupin must investigate who has penned these letters and their motives, in the process coming to know and often mistrust a selection of individuals in incidents that clearly gave Poe inspiration for some of his most famous stories such as The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Masque of the Red Death. Indeed he pays a call on Charles Dickens (who is out) and meets his pet raven, Grip, who appears in the latter's Barnaby Rudge and inspired Poe 's most famous poem. The final resolution contains a number of twists and turns. Extremely well written, the narrative just on occasion became a little confusing with a number of dream sequences, but is a powerful read. It is the first of a trilogy and I will read the others. ( )

C. Auguste Dupin, the first modern literary detective, teams up with his creator, Edgar Allan Poe, to solve a mystery with its roots stretching back to Poe's childhood in London, and his doubtful ancestry.

Poe is presented in neurotic detail, while Dupin remains something of a cipher. There is a good degree of back story provided for him, but not as fleshed out as I might have hoped. On the other hand, it does leave him with a certain mysterious allure.

Obviously, being set primarily in London 1840, there is much wandering down foggy cobbled streets, urchins and beggars, lords and ladies, slashings and murders, with walk zon parts for contemporary celebrities Charles Dickens and Madame Tussaud.

It's a decent enough story, which kept me turning the pages, and made the more interesting in that the crimes around which the plot revolves were historical. There are some nice set pieces, and lots of allusions to Poe's writings to satisfy the likely readership of gothic enthusiasts. My main gripe is that loose ends are deliberately left dangling, to encourage purchase of the sequel, no doubt. I'd have appreciated a little more closure after sticking with 398 pages. ( )

Edgar Allen Poe leaves his family in Philadelphia and travels to London in 1840 where he meets with Auguste Dupin, the Parisian detective. Poe has received a family heirloom containing papers implicating his parents in the notorious London Monster scandals from 1790 and seeks Dupin's help in unravelling the mystery. We find that Poe is being stalked by some unknown enemy intending to kill him and that this is related to his parents' activities in some way.

Nineteenth century London is well-drawn and atmospheric and the narrative is strongly realistic - there are no glaring anachronisms and the action is eminently believable for the period. As Poe succumbs to a combination of physical and psychological attacks and begins to break down tension mounts although, for my money, his foe is telegraphed a little too early and obviously for any real shocks. Poe, as the book's narrator, is the most strongly drawn character, and he is revealed as a weak, hysterical, self-absorbed bundle of neuroses throughout, no doubt based on fact, but he did leave me mumbling 'buck up, for heaven's sake!' at a number of points. I think Auguste Dupin is rather thinly drawn by comparison and comes across as rather ineffectual in supporting Poe, often giving rather anodyne and general advice. Dupin's own sub-plot feels like a separate story plugged in as a filler here.

The writing is full of allusions to Poe's own writing - ravens, gothic tombs, Dupin's motivations - but I think these would be more effective as visual tropes in a film than in this novel.

I enjoyed this book for its pace, its historical settings, its interweaving of real and fictional characters and events and its language. I think just a bit more effort and this would be an excellent historical mystery. ( )