Overview

Philadelphia, 1844. As violent tensions escalate between nativists and recent Irish immigrants, Edgar Allan Poe's fears for the safety of his wife, Virginia, and mother-in-law, Muddy, are compounded when he receives a parcel of mummified bird parts. Has his nemesis returned to settle an old score? Just as odd is the arrival of Helena Loddiges, a young heiress who demands Poe's help to discover why her lover died at the city's docks on his return from an expedition to Peru. Poe is skeptical of her claims of having received messages from birds and visitations from her lover's ghost, but when Miss Loddiges is kidnapped, he and his friend C. Auguste Dupin must unravel a mystery involving old enemies, lost soul-mates, ornithomancy, and the legendary jewel of Peru.

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9781643132648

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Reviews

Street excels at seamlessly joining history and fiction, displaying a literary style not unlike Poe's, complete with touches of the macabre and melodramatic. Her depiction of Poe's relationship with Sissy, his young wife, and Muddy, his mother-in-law, is skillfully drawn and very touching. Fans of Poe and Dupin will look forward to more adventures of the detecting duo. Street successfully combines historical fact with fiction. A particular treat for fans of the master of the macabre. An enjoyable romp through the drawing rooms, theaters, and docks of early-19th-century Philadelphia. Street's slightly self-deprecating and occasionally darkly humorous narrative echoes Poe's style and fashions him as the somewhat unwilling hero of his own story. Street's writing is evocative and true to the period while the plot unwinds in unexpected ways. Recommended for lovers of Poe's writings, for those who enjoy the Gothic and macabre, and for all historical mystery fans. Come for the mystery, stay for Street's fantastic characters, gorgeous writing, and oodles of atmosphere. This is an utterly delightful treat that's not to be missed.

"""Street excels at seamlessly joining history and fiction, displaying a literary style not unlike Poe's, complete with touches of the macabre and melodramatic. Fans of Poe and Dupin will look forward to more adventures of the detecting duo."" --Library Journal ""An enjoyable romp through the drawing rooms, theaters, and docks of early-19th-century Philadelphia."" --Kirkus Reviews ""Street's writing is evocative and true to the period while the plot unwinds in unexpected ways."" --Historical Novel Society"

Author Information

KAREN LEE STREET was born in Philadelphia and now lives in Australia. Edgar Allan Poe and the London Monster, also available from Pegasus Crime, was her first novel.

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