50 pages • 1 hour read
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
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Summary: “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”
Edgar Allan Poe, known as the “father” of modern detective fiction, debuted what’s considered one of the first detective stories with “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” The short story was originally published in Graham’s Magazine in 1841. From its pages spring the hallmarks of any crime novel: the mystifying brilliance of the detective, the doting investigative partner, the enigmatic puzzle, the trail of clue misdirection, and the host of failed conjectures posed by those generally considered more experienced. One hundred years later, Howard Haycraft observed that Poe’s inaugural works in this genre “established once and for all the mould and pattern for thousands upon thousands of works of police fiction which have followed” (Craighill, Stephanie. “The Influence of Duality and Poe’s Notion of the Bi-Part Soul on the Genesis of Detective Fiction in the Nineteenth Century,” 2010).
Poe’s first installation of detective stories, also dubbed “The Dupin Tales,” is articulated in the first person from an unnamed narrator’s point of view. From the start, the supremacy of rationalist thought emerges to define the genre itself. “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” is followed by “The Mystery of Mary Rogêt” (1842), and “ Unlock all 50 pages of this Study Guide Plus, gain access to 8,850+ more expert-written Study Guides. Including features:
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By Edgar Allan Poe
