The Murders in the Rue Morgue and Other Stories, with eBook

Between 1841 and 1844, Edgar Allan Poe invented the detective fiction genre with his mesmerizing stories of a young French eccentric named C. Auguste Dupin. Introducing to literature the concept of applying reason to solving crime, these tales brought Poe fame and fortune. Years later, Dorothy Sayers would describe The Murders in the Rue Morgue as almost a complete manual of detective theory and practice. Indeed, Poe's short mysteries inspired the creation of countless literary sleuths, among them Sherlock Holmes. Today, the Dupin stories still stand out as unique and utterly engrossing. In addition to The Murders in the Rue Morgue, this collection contains The Purloined Letter (also featuring C. Auguste Dupin), The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade, A Descent into the Maelstrom, The Raven, and The Masque of the Red Death.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) was born in Boston and orphaned at an early age. Taken in by a couple from Richmond, Virginia, he spent a semester at the University of Virginia but could not afford to stay longer. After joining the Army and matriculating as a cadet, he started his literary career with the anonymous publication of Tamerlane and Other Poems, before working as a literary critic. His life was dotted with scandals, such as purposefully getting himself court-martialled to ensure dismissal from the Army, being discharged from his job at the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond after being found drunk by his boss, and secretly marrying his thirteen-year-old cousin Virginia (listed twenty-one on the marriage certificate). His work took him to both New York City and Baltimore, where he died at the age of forty, two years after Virginia.