Mystery

Introduction
Edgar Allan Poe is widely regarded for his work in the horror genre. His stories, including "The Tell-Tale Heart," and "The Black Cat" are of course known by students of literature around the world.

However, Poe is also regarded as "the father of the mystery genre". His classic story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" paved the way for future generations of mystery writers.

His C. Auguste Dupin character became the model for all "idiosyncrasic" detectives and modern-day sleuths. Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are indepted to Poe's Dupin for his influence in the creation of their characters, Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes, respectively.

"The Murders in the Rue Morgue"

"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is considered to be the first detective story. The detective story is different from the mystery story in that it emphasizes "the detector" as well as the crime. It also stresses analysis instead of trial and error.

This story is considered one of the best mystery stories of all time and is in fact on several critical ten-best lists as Number One. It is highly influential, especially its main character, C. Auguste Dupin.

Dupin is considered the "ultimate" detective. Dupin uses his superior intellect to identify with the criminal mind to help the police in solving crimes. His personality, use of clues, and his ability to use logic to expose criminals are traits that incorporated into the characters of other writers. Dupin's use of "ratiocination," a higher form of deduction that allows Dupin to detect what other people have overlooked or dismissed as not important, has made Dupin the model for the intelligent, seemingly-miraculous detective.

In the modern detective story, the most important character is almost always the intellectual sleuth who always finds the criminal or solves the mystery. Poe invented this idea of an acute observer whose painstaking analysis of human nature accurately follows the workings of the human mind. Some famous detectives said to be modeled after Dupin are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, and Clive Barker's Lewis, who was featured in Barker's homage to Poe, "The New Murders in the Rue Morgue".

"The Mystery of Marie Roget" and "The Purloined Letter"

Other Poe detective stories are "The Mystery of Marie Roget" and "The Purloined Letter". These two stories are the final parts of the Dupin trilogy.

"The Mystery of Marie Roget" was the first detective story based on a true story, though Poe changed names and details. It was at first an attempt to solve the crime, but Poe invented the ending. It played on the media frenzy surrounding the real case, which was extreme.

"The Purloined Letter" was the final Dupin story, and Poe considered it the best, though it was by far the least significant of the three.

The Edgar Awards

Poe's influence is so strong over mystery that in 1945 the Edgar Awards were created by the Mystery Writers of America. They honor the best mystery stories of the year, in books, TV, and films. Last year's winner was Joe R. Lansdale's The Bottoms.