The Murders in the Rue Morgue [Paperback]

Edgar Allan Poe (Author), Talia Felix (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 8, 2009 | ISBN-10: 1442184167 | ISBN-13: 978-1442184169

"...A search was made in the chimney, and (horrible to relate!) the corpse of the daughter, head downward, was dragged therefrom. Upon examining it, many excoriations were perceived, no doubt occasioned by the violence with which it had been thrust up and disengaged. Upon the face were many severe scratches, and, upon the throat, dark bruises, and deep indentations of finger nails, as if the deceased had been throttled to death. "After a thorough investigation of every portion of the house, without farther discovery, the party made its way into a small paved yard in the rear of the building, where lay the corpse of the old lady, with her throat so entirely cut that, upon an attempt to raise her, the head fell off. The body, as well as the head, was fearfully mutilated - the former so much so as scarcely to retain any semblance of humanity. "To this horrible mystery there is not as yet, we believe, the slightest clue."

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

5 1-hour cassettes --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

About the Author

Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849) was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were both actors, and he was their middle child. After the death of his mother, he was raised by the Allan family, hence his secondary surname. He attended grammar school in England and Scotland, and did not succeed in finishing college. From 1827 to 1829 he served in the U.S. Army, and he was kicked out of the Military Academy at West Point after being court-martialed. His first book, a collection of poems was published in 1827, and he soon after became one of the few American authors to attempt to live by writing alone. In 1835 he married his thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm, and he was devastated by her death twelve years later; he took to heavy drinking, and his behavior became increasingly erratic. On October 3rd, 1849, Poe was discovered "in great distress" outside a tavern in Baltimore, Maryland, and died four days later of what was then called "cerebral inflammation." The precise cause of his death remains disputed.

Product Details

• Paperback: 56 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (June 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1442184167
• ISBN-13: 978-1442184169
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,108,040 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Best ever narration of "The Raven", October 2, 2011

By 

Suzanne (LAHAINA, HI, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murders in the Rue Morgue & Other Stories (Audible Audio Edition)

I've always been a fan of Edgar Allen Poe, but it wasn't until I heard David Case's narration of "The Raven" in this collection that I felt I really understood the depth of emotion and the strength of this poem. Case somehow manages to capture the narrator's true essence of torment and despair that, in my opinion, is unequal in any other audio version I have yet to come across. I very much enjoyed the other stories in the collection as well; particularly the "Murders in the Rue Morgue." If you have never heard his version of "The Raven," I highly recommend it!

4.0 out of 5 stars Ratiocination, April 18, 2011

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Murders in the Rue Morgue (Crime Classics) (Paperback)

Edgar Allan Poe is best known for his poetry ("Quoth the raven...") and his tales of the macabre. But he has a lesser-known claim to fame -- the prototypical detective stories, predating Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.

Though only three stories about C. Auguste Dupin were written, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" compiles all three of them, with their baffling answers and armchair detection. These weren't the first detective tales, but they set the mold for the mysteries that followed -- strange, atmospheric, and crawling with elaborate clues and odd logical deductions.

We're introduced to Dupin through his pal/roommate, in "Murders in the Rue Morgue." He's impoverished but of an old family, and lives in a crumbling, gothic mansion full of his books. But his mind is sharper than anyone around him, based on the logical process of "ratiocination."

In this mystery, Dupin learns of a bizarre mystery, where an apartment was found almost destroyed but nothing was stolen. An old lady is found outside with her head hacked off with a razor, and her daughter is found throttled and stuffed upside-down in a chimney, with locks of her hair pulled out. No motive, and no suspects. The police are baffled -- but Dupin isn't.

Based on a real crime, "The Mystery of Marie Roget" opens with the death of a popular young woman, who is later found floating in the river. By reading different newspaper reports, Dupin chronicles the peculiarities of the crime, and debunks the many assumptions that were made about the crime -- how many assailants, where, when, and so on.

"The Purloined Letter" has a somewhat less gruesome crime. The prefect of police is meeting with Dupin, with a very important matter to discuss -- a compromising letter of the Queen's was stolen in front of her eyes, and now the Minister is blackmailing her with it. The police have searched the Minister's apartment from top to bottom, but there's no sign of the letter. Only Dupin knows where to find it.

These stories are are not only the undervalued roots of modern detective fiction, but staggeringly good stories as well. Poe -- who reportedly made Dupin the sort of logical, cool person he wanted to be -- crammed a whole novel's worth of detecting into each short story, and made even the weirdest answers (the ending of the first story is likely to make you do a double-take and mumble, "What the...?") seem plausible.

Unlike Poe's other works, these are made up mostly of deduction and dialogue, though Poe does get in some wonderful lines about the shared mansion ("... in a style which suited the rather fantastic gloom of our common temper, a time-eaten and grotesque mansion"). And while the dialogue seems rather dry at first, as it unfolds, the intricacies of each bizarre plot become clear.

You could say that the one flaw of these stories is that they don't offer much insight into the characters. We don't know much about Dupin, except that he's an impoverished noble with a vast collection of books and a brain second to none. But the stories are really about Dupin's logical deductions rather than the character himself, and how any baffling case could be solved if you just had enough clues and a clear head.

"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" are a remarkable work of detective fiction, and are among Poe's best -- and most underrated -- works of fiction. Definitely a must-read.

3.0 out of 5 stars Later Sherlock, November 2, 2007

By 

john purcell "johneric99" (Purcellville, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Murders In The Rue Morgue And Other Stories (Audio Cassette)

This is an unusual selection of assorted Poe works, including the Murder in the Rue Morgue, advertised as the first modern detective story, a few short stories, and the famous poem. Poe's detective is like the hundreds that followed him, if indeed he really is the first in the chain. Classic scenario, he lives with a scribe/assistant in a run-down Paris flat, has no occupation except gentleman, solves crimes that the local constabulary can not get a beat on. In this volume, we see the first two cases, a gruesome murder that could not have been the work of human hands, and a tale of a missing document that needs to be located.

Then the editors change gears and provide us with a selection of unrelated short stories. None are especially good, but the best of the bunch is a short lesson in how to survive a hurricane at sea. The protagonist makes it home safely, albeit without his stubborn brother and with his jet black mane turned white.

For good measure, there is a copy of the famous poem, The Raven, tossed into the mix here also. I did the audio version, and it is probably better to have the poem read aloud. Dont know if Ray Lewis has heard this yet or not.