First published 2006
Baltimore, October 1849. Edgar Allan Poe stumbles through the streets in clothes that are not his own, delirious and incoherent. At the hospital, before death claims him, he cries out "Reynolds!" again and again. The circumstances of his final days remain unexplained. Quentin Hobson Clark, a wealthy admirer of Poe's work, refuses to accept this mystery. He knows Poe created C. Auguste Dupin, the detective who solved impossible cases through pure reasoning. Clark believes the key lies with Auguste Duponte, the real French investigator who likely inspired Poe's fictional detective. Clark begins tracking down Duponte, determined to apply the methods of detection that Poe pioneered to solve the puzzle of the writer's own demise. As Clark pursues the truth, he must navigate the same dark corners of Baltimore that may have claimed Poe's life.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, mystery, crime, detective, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, historical-mystery, literary-mystery
Setting: Baltimore
Period: 1849
514 pages · Hardcover · Rizzoli