I picked up The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl in a discount bin sometime over the past year. It had an interesting looking cover and appeared to be a mystery, so I thought I'd grab it. It seemed like a decent investment for $3. I didn't realize that it was written by the same author as The Dante Club, another novel that I enjoyed quite a bit. That novel used historical figures to solve a fictional mystery, while this novel uses fictional characters to solve a historical mystery - the death of Edgar Allan Poe.
The protagonist of the novel is Quentin Clark and the novel is written in first person. It chronicles Clark as he tries to discover the truth of the mysterious death of author Edgar Allan Poe. They were only loose acquaintances, but Clark was a fan of Poe's work, so he feels compelled to look into what others fail to deem important. The pursuit of the truth leads to Clark's downfall as an attorney in Baltimore and he also loses his fiance in the process. To gain assistance, Clark travels to Paris to enlist the help of Duponte, the alleged inspiration for Poe's detective, Dupin.
The novel was a bit slow at times, but was ultimately a fun read. Pearl seemed to capture the speech of Poe's era. I enjoyed the overall plot and ultimately found myself disappointed when the novel ended. It's worth a read for anyone who is a fan of mysteries, Poe, or a combination of the two.
The Poe Shadow
The protagonist of the novel is Quentin Clark and the novel is written in first person. It chronicles Clark as he tries to discover the truth of the mysterious death of author Edgar Allan Poe. They were only loose acquaintances, but Clark was a fan of Poe's work, so he feels compelled to look into what others fail to deem important. The pursuit of the truth leads to Clark's downfall as an attorney in Baltimore and he also loses his fiance in the process. To gain assistance, Clark travels to Paris to enlist the help of Duponte, the alleged inspiration for Poe's detective, Dupin.
The novel was a bit slow at times, but was ultimately a fun read. Pearl seemed to capture the speech of Poe's era. I enjoyed the overall plot and ultimately found myself disappointed when the novel ended. It's worth a read for anyone who is a fan of mysteries, Poe, or a combination of the two.
The Poe Shadow
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