WILL UNWOUND #353: “Will’s Mystery Project – ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ by Edgar Allan Poe
February 5, 2011You will recall that for my mystery project I read and reviewed A Study in Scarlet by Conan Doyle. Here is the most interesting interchange between Watson and Holmes from that entire book:
Watson says to Holmes, “You remind me of Edgar Allan Poe’s Dupin. I had no idea that such individuals did exist outside of stories.”
Sherlock Homes rose and lit his pipe. “No doubt you think that you are complimenting me in comparing me to Dupin,” he said. “Now, in my opinion, Dupin was a very inferior fellow. That trick of his of breaking in on his friends’ thoughts with an apropos remark after a quarter of an hour’s silence is really very showy and superficial. He had some analytical genius, no doubt; but he was by no means such a phenomenon as Poe appeared to imagine.”
Ever since I read that interchange I have wanted to meet Monsieur Dupin on his own terms, so this week I read The Murders in the Rue Morgue. In this story we are presented with the violent murders of two women in a locked room from which there seems to be no possible means of exiting. Then an innocent man, Adolphe de Bon, is falsely accused of these dark deeds. Because Dupin owes Monsieur de Bon a favor he gets involved in the investigation.
The case is a difficult one because the murders took place to two gentle women in a highly protected building. To make matters even more puzzling, no money or valuables have been taken from the murder scene (even though it was there for the taking). Also, the two women would appear to have no enemies. The Paris newspapers declare that the crime seems impossible to solve for all these reasons.
Enter Monsier Dupin. In a Holmes like manner he closely examines the building where the murder takes place, finds a number of very important clues that the police overlooked (this seems to be a theme in most mystery novels…the police are morons), and then with great imaginative insight makes an educated guess that the murder was a creature not of the homo sapiens family.
In a Holmes-like manner (right out of a Study in Scarlet), Dupin posts a notice in the newspaper. The intended target takes the bait, Dupin’s solution is affirmed, and the police grudgingly accept the fact that they have been out-smarted by an amateur sleuth (also a theme in many murder mysteries).
The Murders in the Rue Morgue was a short but challenging read. Dupin is a first rate creation of Poe’s fertile imagination and the haunting style that we all love Poe for combine for a rather gripping reading experience.
Bottom line: The Murders in the Rue Morgue gets 4 stars to The Study in Scarlet’s 2 stars.
Score one for Poe over Conan Doyle on Super Bowl weekend.
Your review takes me back to when I was 10 years old and discovered Poe in my dad’s bookcase. I had decided I would spend that summer sleeping outdoors and armed with the Poe, a blanket and a flashlight I read Murders in the Rue Morgue. I found the solution so frightening I moved from the back yard to the front porch apparently thinking a giant ape would be less likely to attack me there.
Linda, that’s a wonderful story. I’m impressed that you were reading Poe at 10.
You should also take a few minutes to enjoy that other classic short mystery by Poe, The Purloined Letter.
There is no question that Poe had a fertile imagination and that he was a literary pioneer in several areas. He wrote one of the best-known poems of all time in “The Raven.”
So with all that to his credit, I guess I can forgive him for having written “Annabel Lee.” One of the most embarrassing incidents in my library career was the time when I was working the reference desk and a caller insisted that I read “Annabel Lee” to her over the phone. If you will read it aloud (I recommend being in an empty house for this) you will find how dreadfully sing-song and soppy it is. To have to read it aloud in a library with staff and customers close by was sheer torture. I ended thinking, “Nevermore.”
Wayne, it almost sounds like the patron was playing a joke on you.
Good for you for continuing your great Mystery Project!
I’m not sure I could finish reading books I didn’t much care for but I think it is great that you are doing so.
I’ll repeat myself and say I’m not a super huge mystery fan, although reading some of the Conan Doyle books is on my literary to do list.
Having said that though, thanks again for rating mystery titles each week because sometimes they strike me as really great books too; for example, I loved the two Patricia Harwin mysteries that you put my in touch with – I know you only reviewed the second one but I read them in order and wish she’d write a few more of them! Thanks for putting me on to that author.
And I have to say, I have absolutely no interest what-so-ever in watching any kind of sports not even the Superbowl! But I bet my library will be dead on Sunday afternoon as most of our patrons get ready for the game – since I’m working this weekend I’ll find out!
And now back to answering Internet Public Library reference questions for graduate degree class INFO 521 – it is just like being at work.
I may stop back in for another of those hot buttered rums latter – maybe our Friday Genie can make them be calorie free!
And of course, typos abound, that last sentence should start out “I may stop back in for another of those hot buttered rums later” not latter…Nuts, I hate typos!
At least it wasn’t one of my favorite semi-intentional spoonerisms — hot ruttered bums.
Thanks for the chuckle of the day! That really was funny!
LOL – - thanks for a good laugh on a cold winter night.
Linda….bless you, bless you, bless you. I was stumped about what to write about for my next post – Sunday meditation. But now I know. Thanks for the idea.
I read mysteries on vacation and I didn’t realize that what I was usually picking out of the mystery rack was of a recognized genre: “cozy mysteries.”
Well, anyway, as a counterpoint to your observation that in detective literature, the police are morons, in cozy mysteries, whenever the sleuth is a woman, which is probably a distinguishing feature of the cozy, she always has a cop for a boyfriend, because she is a caterer, hairdresser, innkeeper, bookstore owner, etc.
This is a handy plot device for delivering critical clues to the sleuth and getting her rescued during the final confrontation with the villain. Oh, and the cop boyfriend always lectures her about staying out of the case.
It got so annoying that I now skip mysteries where there is a cop boyfriend.
Thanks for the good advice, Betty.
Will,
I’m glad to see that you finally got to Poe with the WMP. In my opinion, there is no equal to Poe, especially within the realm of the short story.
ry…I would have to agree with you.
I’m glad you’re back to doing mysteries too Will. Maybe I’ll try this one although Poe is another classic author I tend to be wary of. We’ll see! The whole weekend tends to be slow on superbowl weekends at work. I won’t be working it and am just as glad.
JR…I really think you will enjoy Poe, JR.
Right now my concern is being buried alive under Mt. Bookmore. I haven’t even looked at Slaying is Such Sweet Sorrow yet. After I manage to plow through more library books, and get them returned, I’ll think about it.
But what do we make of Poe’s fascination with such things like “hollow earth” (viz. Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym ).
Stan, are you saying I should definitely read Pym?
I don’t know if Stan is, but I am.
Pym is … well, to quote the Grateful Dead, a long, strange trip.
I’ve only read a few Poe stories, but he has always impressed with me with his storytelling.
I’m glad you are keeping up with the mystery project – what’s the next book on the pile?
Jessica, I am in the middle of “Hasty Retreat” by Kate Gallison.
I like both Poe and Doyle. If you want to read a mystery where the Police aren’t morons you need to get to some of the police procedural ones, that sub-genre has some of the smartest cops around. My personal favorite right now is Craig Johnson. His “A Cold Dish” made me a fan forever. But there are lots of good PP’s out there.