Monday, February 06, 2012

Monday Mystery- Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was not only the father of American short fiction but also the detective story.  He was also one of the first writers to earn a living with his writing. It wasn't a glamorous living but he did survive.

He was orphaned young and raised by an affluent merchant and his wife. He was in and out of the army and West Point being dishonorably discharged. He raised money to publish a book of his poems from donations from his West Point friends.

Years of disappointing jobs, being paid miserably for his work, and the death of his wife sent him into the bottle.

Poe's detective in his mysteries was C. Auguste Dupin who lived at No. 33 Rue Dunot, Faubourg-St. Germain.  "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is considered the first locked-room mystery.

He wrote one mystery based on an actual case it was "The Mystery of Marie Roget".

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