The mystery genre is something that we take for granted now, but there was a time when it didn’t exist. In fact up until 1841, there was no such thing as the mystery genre; its first inception was as a locked door mystery by the great American poet and novelist, Edgar Allen Poe.
Edgar Allen Poe
Poe is mostly known for his poetry and gothic works such as the poem “The Raven”, but his detective, C. Augustine Dupin, was the influence behind Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes; and though Sherlock Holmes is considered to be the detective responsible for popularizing the genre, he wouldn’t exist without Edgar Allen Poe.
The Murders in La Rue Morgue
Not only is The Murders in La Rue Morgue the first modern detective story, it is the mystery short story that spawned the genre. Set in Paris in 1840, the narrator (not unlike Watson) tells the story of how he met the detective, Dupin and how they shared shabby quarters together. Dupin’s analytical deductions are astounding (not unlike Holmes) and it is with great interest that the pair read the newspaper story about the murders of Madame L’Espanaye and her daughter who were found dead at the home in La Rue Morgue.
The door was locked, no money was taken and all that was left in the room was a straight razor and some tufts of grey hair. Yet through deduction, Dupin solves the mystery and in doing so launched one of the largest and most popular reading and viewing genres the modern world knows.
To find more mystery writers, check out www.mystread.com where you’ll find plenty of authors and their books from the mystery genre.
No comments:
Post a Comment