Edgar Allan Poe and the Murder of Mary Rogers
Daniel StashowerOn July 28 1841 the battered body of a woman was discovered in the Hudson River. The victim was Mary Rogers, a young beauty whose death sent Manhattan into a spasm of horror and outrage. It would also inspire one of the greatest authors of a generation to write The Mystery of Marie Roget and thereby create an entirely new style of literature—the true crime novel. This book retraces Edgar Allan Poe’s steps as he set out to solve the case. Stashower reveals the drama of New York in the 1840s, complete with roving gangs, corrupt journalists, and an unregulated police force utterly unprepared for the baffling crime that transformed a city.
Reviews
"A page-turner of a book that itself contains all the suspense of a whodunit. Stashower seems as if he is reporting from firsthand experience."
The Glasgow Herald
"Stashower's elegent biography of Poe brings this extraordinary writer to life."
Seven
"It's interesting for its insights into the workings of a creative mind, and primarily of note to Poe aficionados, but this well written book also has something for lovers of a historical crime story"
Metro
"Stashower provides an excellent insight into everyday life in 1840s America, while allowing Poe's genius, ill luck and unbounded appetite for self-destruction to shine through."
The Daily Telegraph
"Stashower provides an excellent insight into everyday life in 1840s America, while allowing Poe's genius, ill luck and unbounded appetite for self-destruction to shine through."
The Daily Telegraph
"It's interesting for its insights into the workings of a creative mind, and primarily of note to Poe aficionados, but this well written book also has something for lovers of a historical crime story"
Metro
"A page-turner of a book that itself contains all the suspense of a whodunit. Stashower seems as if he is reporting from firsthand experience."
The Glasgow Herald
"Stashower's elegent biography of Poe brings this extraordinary writer to life."
Seven
"Poe's genius and literary legacy are hauntingly drawn here."
Publishers Weekly
