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Summary
Summary
The famed writer and poet sails to London to engage the illustrious detective Auguste Dupin to solve a Poe family mystery, in a stylish and brilliantly constructed debut novel.
Summer, 1840. Edgar Allan Poe sails from Philadelphia to London to meet his friend C. Auguste Dupin, with the hope that the great detective will help him solve a family mystery. For Poe has inherited a mahogany box containing a collection of letters allegedly written by his grandparents, Elizabeth and Henry Arnold.
The Arnolds were actors who struggled to make a living on the London stage, but the mysterious letters suggest that the couple has a more clandestine and nefarious lifestyle, stalking well-to-do young women at night, to slice their clothing and derrières.
Poe hopes to prove the missives forgeries; Dupin wonders if perhaps they are real, but their content fantasy. Soon Poe is being stalked by someone who knows far more about his grandparents and their crimes than he does. And then he remembers disturbing attacks made upon him as a child in London--could the perpetrators be connected?
Author Notes
Karen Lee Street was born in America but has lived in London for most of her adult life. She recently moved to Australia. Edgar Allan Poe and the London Monster is her first novel.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Street's impressive first novel cleverly pairs Poe with his fictional creation, the Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin. In 1840, Poe travels to England after receiving a parcel from his stepmother containing a bundle of letters that appear to implicate Poe's maternal grandparents in a series of real-life crimes committed decades earlier. Between 1788 and 1790, women were terrorized by the so-called London Monster, who cut "the derrières of over fifty victims." Though a man was eventually charged with the crimes, doubt lingered about his guilt, leaving room for Poe to wonder whether his mother's parents, actors Elizabeth and Henry Arnold, might have actually been responsible for them. Poe's friend Dupin meets him in London to sort out the truth about the past and about the person who's stalking him in the present. That foe seems to have almost supernatural abilities, having somehow gotten hold of a letter Poe wrote his wife that was tossed overboard during his transatlantic voyage. Street maintains atmospheric suspense throughout. Agent: Oli Munson, A.M. Heath (U.K.). (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
1840: Edgar Allan Poe and Auguste Dupin race to uncover the truth about a violent scandal involving Poes actor grandparents and a notorious London criminal in Street's debut novel.Carrying a mysterious cache of letters that point toward a connection between the Arnolds and the Monster of London, infamous for attacking several ladies in the late 1780s, Poe travels to London to meet his most famous character, here a living, breathing, and very cerebral detective. Someone desiring revenge on the true Monster cunningly reveals more hints in the form of additional letters from time to time during the investigation. This nemesis also preys upon Poes emotional instability, exploiting his weaknesses and frequently sending him into a faint. Dupin, as it turns out, is also chasing an obsession in London: the identity of the man who betrayed his family during the French Revolution. The two men work together to find answers to their respective mysteries as the clock runs down, leading to a final showdownin creepy catacombs, of course. The novel begins with an unnecessary authors note describing its inspiration from true events, which lessens, rather than intensifies, the impact of a novel and main character whose strength must lie in imagination. The other pit into which Street falls (Poe-ish pun intended) is the difficulty of imbuing a famous artist and a beloved character with originality. Poe in particular comes across as a poor caricature of himself, overly dramatic and rather pathetic. Dupin, in contrast, begins as a one-note character but gains complexity as his past and secrets are revealed. Elizabeth and Henry Arnold, brought to life only in their letters, provide the most amusement in the tale.A bit like the newly imagined Sherlock Holmes movies: a dose of drama, a dash of darkness, and a little bit of humor ultimately liven up the journey. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
[DEBUT] Street's first novel drops readers smack into an Edgar Allan Poe story, complete with all the deception, obsession, and madness of the master himself. Poe arrives in London from Philadelphia in 1840 to meet C. Auguste Dupin, his friend and an accomplished detective. The writer is seeking Dupin's help in solving the mystery of a box of letters he inherited, letters supposedly written by his grandparents Elizabeth and Henry Arnold. True, the Arnolds were impecunious actors, but the letters imply that they performed the very unsavory role of the notorious London Monster, an actual criminal who slashed young women of quality between 1788 and 1790. Poe hopes he and Dupin will prove the letters false, but soon he is followed and tormented by someone who seems to know about his grandparents and their criminal acts. Will Poe and Dupin discover the truth before Poe loses his life-or his sanity? Verdict Poe's devoted readers will rejoice in this debut literary novel, a skillful melding of historical detail and fiction that is also rife with Poe-like style, imagery, and plot elements. Mavens of the macabre will relish this and hunger for a sequel.-Barbara Clark-Greene, Westerly, RI © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.