A collection of five short stories which lay claim to laying down the conventions for other detective fiction which followed. The first three of these feature the analytical skills of C. Auguste Dupin who solves various crimes and then goes on to tell you how he did it. An obvious forerunner for the likes of Sherlock Holmes et al. The next story relates the tale of a wealthy man now fallen on hard times whose demeanour seems to change when he finds a bug apparently made of gold. The final story has an elaborate plot to unmask the real killer after an innocent man is found guilty of murder.

These stories certainly show the origins of the genre and it's interesting to compare with how it went on to develop. While the reader is not invited to see how the crime was solved alongside the detective you do get to hear the necessary steps that he took to get to the solution. An interesting rather than a good read. ( )

The Murders in the Rue Morgue: Penguin Crime
Contents:
1. The Balloon-Hoax
2. The Facts in the Case of M. Valdermar
3. A Descent in the Maelstroem
4. The Murders in the Rue Morgue
5. The Purloined Letter **1001
6. The Black Cat
7. The Fall of the House of Usher **1001
8. The Pit and the Pendulum ** 1001
9. The Masque of the Red Death
10. The Tell-Tale Heart
11. William Wilson
12. Berenice
13. Ligeia
14. The Man of the Crowd

I have two Penguin books with Poe stories, and this is the better of the two. In it, there are 3 1001 Book entries, as well as two Dupin stories. For those who like crime, both with a touch of logic or the fantastic, this is the book for you. Collected here are very different stories and styles. There is the factual, the superior sleuthing of Dupin as well as a higher justice, where criminals are tripped up by their own conscience.

I especially enjoyed the two Dupin stories (The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Purloined Letter), I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, and so was intrigued by Dupin's process of logic. The Pit and the Pendulum is more about punishment than crime, mental torture as prescribed by the Inquisition. Poe carefully constructs a prison that is as much real as in the captive's mind. The Tell-tale heart also caught my imagination, as a the murderer's own conscience punishes him. ( )

Three stories featuring detective C. Auguste Dupin, 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue', 'The Mystery of Marie Roget' and 'The Purloined Letter', plus 'The Gold Bug' and 'Thou Art the Man'.

I've read and enjoyed "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", but I found my eyes glazing over at the theorising waffle in "The Mystery of Marie Roget" and "The Purloined Letter", so I must admit that I skipped the boring bits. I did, however, enjoy the last two stories in the book, "The Gold Bug" about a hunt for buried treasure, and "Thou Art the Man", about the unmasking of a murderer. ( )

The mystery is short, but Poe's detective, Dupin, unravels the murder of a woman and her daughter in Paris by using his powers of observation. The story is undoubtedly the basis for the modern detective story. The character of Sherlock Holmes, which came decades after Dupin, is incredibly similar.

It's a good mystery, but definitely not one of my favorites from Poe. I tend to like his more macabre tales, which focus more on the darkness within his characters' hearts. But I did love reading a detective story that obviously inspired so many future books. ( )

This volume is sub-titled "The Complete Crime Stories" and claims to be the source of all modern detective stories. It consists of five stories:

The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Mystery of Marie Rogêt
The Purloined Letter
The Gold Bug
"Thou Art the Man"

The first three are Auguste Dupin stories and it is easy to see him as the prototype for generations of detectives to come including Sherlock Holmes and Hercules Poirot. The armchair, three-pipe, detective exercises his little grey cells; his rather slower-witted sidekick recounts the story and the policeman he helps is stolid and dim.

The Murders in the Rue Morgue is my least favourite in the collection, an absurd plot and unlikely denouement. The Gold Bug is a story of pirate treasure and 'Thou art the Man' is a Gothic murder mystery and my favourite. ( )