Includes The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie
Rogêt, and The Purloined Letter
Between 1841 and 1844, Edgar Allan Poe invented the genre of
detective fiction with three 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 to live on. 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, utterly engrossing page-turners.
This Modern Library edition reproduces the definitive texts of
the three tales. It includes an enlightening Introduction by
novelist Matthew Pearl and an Appendix, “The Earliest
Detectives.”