The Murders in the Rue Morgue is a classic mystery novel by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1841. It is widely considered to be the first modern detective story. The novel follows the investigations of the brilliant detective C. Auguste Dupin as he attempts to solve a mysterious double murder in the Rue Morgue, a street in Paris. The victims are an old woman and her daughter, and the only clues are a few pieces of evidence and a strange, inhuman cry heard by witnesses. Dupin uses his powers of deduction to unravel the mystery, eventually discovering that the murderer is an escaped orangutan. The novel is a classic example of the detective genre, and its influence can be seen in many later works of detective fiction.
By Edgar Allan Poe · First published 1845 · Genre: Mystery, Crime Fiction, Gothic Fiction