The C. Auguste Dupin stories by Edgar Allan Poe

With this post, I begin a new ongoing quest! (Ignore the fact that Gulliver's Travels is already on there. That's just because I didn't want to read it again.)

These are the first detective stories ever written, making detective fiction one of the few genres to have been undisputably invented by someone. However, despite being the first, they're still good examples of the genre, probably because they started it.

"The Murders in the Rue Morgue"

In which Edgar Allan Poe invents detective fiction. This is one of two Edgar Allan Poe stories I've read that involve |orangutangs| in some form.

To be entirely honest, I find the solution to this one somewhat unbelievable. Not the way in which it was solved, mind you, but what that solution is. That said, it will definitely stick with you.

Dupin started the trope of the detective who isn't in it for the money, instead solving crimes for some other reason. In his case, I think it's because he finds it fun and/or interesting.

Were this a videogame, I'd rate it: A stern T for graphic violence.

"The Mystery of Marie Rogêt"

In which Edgar Allan Poe, as well as inventing detective fiction, also invents the true crime genre.

This was written as a fictionalized version of a real murder, and features C. Auguste Dupin (and through him, Edgar Allan Poe) solving it entirely through newspaper clippings. The endnotes in the edition I read inform me that Poe's solution to the murder was actually correct, but I have not been able to find any evidence of this anywhere else, so I can't speak to how true that is.

Most of this one is taken up by Dupin reasoning things from newsapapers. If you're into that, it's great. If you find it boring, you'll be bored to figurative tears.

Were this a videogame, I'd rate it: A softer T for still being a murder mystery.

"The Purloined Letter"

In which Edgar Allan Poe invents detective fiction that isn't about murder, and is instead about blackmail.

I suspect, but cannot prove, that this one (intentionally or not) started the trope of the police detectives failing at stuff.

Were this a videogame, I'd rate it: E10+ for, uh, not seeming like the sort of thing that would get rated E. I can't actually recall anything objectionable about it, though.

In general, I would give these stories 4 stars.

(Endnote: These are some of the most normal things that Edgar Allan Poe ever wrote.)