Edgar Allan Poe and the Jewel of Peru (Poe and Dupin Mystery #2)

by Karen Lee Street

Overview

Philadelphia, 1844: As violent tensions escalate between nativists and recent Irish immigrants, Edgar Allan Poe’s fears for the safety of his wife, Virginia, and mother-in-law, Muddy, are compounded when he receives a parcel of mummified bird parts. Has his nemesis returned to settle an old score? Just as odd is the arrival of Helena Loddiges, a young heiress who demands Poe’s help to discover why her lover died at the city’s docks on his return from an expedition to Peru. Poe is skeptical of her claims of having received messages from birds—and visitations from her lover’s ghost—but when Miss Loddiges is kidnapped, he and his friend C. Auguste Dupin must unravel a mystery involving old enemies, lost soul-mates, ornithomancy, and the legendary jewel of Peru.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681777245
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	05/08/2018
Series:	Poe and Dupin Series , #2
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

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.

Editorial Reviews

02/01/2018
The second novel in Street's historical series (after Edgar Allen Poe and the London Monster) finds Edgar Allan Poe in Philadelphia in 1844, a city on edge from recent outbreaks of violence between nativists and Irish immigrants. Poe receives a perplexing package of preserved crow parts, soon followed by other disturbing parcels. He's sure an old enemy is responsible until English heiress Helena Loddiges begs his help to determine why her lover drowned upon his return from a Peruvian expedition. Helena claims to receive messages from birds and to have seen her lover's ghost, but a doubting Poe is reluctant to assist—until she is kidnapped. Poe summons his friend C. August Dupin to work on the case, embroiling both men in a mystery complicated by ornithomancy, past enemies, duplicitous priests, and a fabled jewel of Peru. VERDICT Street excels at seamlessly joining history and fiction, displaying a literary style not unlike Poe's, complete with touches of the macabre and melodramatic. Her depiction of Poe's relationship with Sissy, his young wife, and Muddy, his mother-in-law, is skillfully drawn and very touching. Fans of Poe and Dupin will look forward to more adventures of the detecting duo.—Barbara Clark-Greene, Westerly, RI

Library Journal

"Street successfully combines historical fact with fiction. A particular treat for fans of the master of the macabre."

Booklist

"Street’s slightly self-deprecating and occasionally darkly humorous narrative echoes Poe’s style and fashions him as the somewhat unwilling hero of his own story."

BookPage

"Come for the mystery, stay for Street’s fantastic characters, gorgeous writing, and oodles of atmosphere. This is an utterly delightful treat that’s not to be missed."

Criminal Element

"Street’s writing is evocative and true to the period while the plot unwinds in unexpected ways. Recommended for lovers of Poe’s writings, for those who enjoy the Gothic and macabre, and for all historical mystery fans."

Historical Novel Society

“Street excels at seamlessly joining history and fiction, displaying a literary style not unlike Poe’s, complete with touches of the macabre and melodramatic. Fans of Poe and Dupin will look forward to more adventures of the detecting duo.” —Library Journal

“An enjoyable romp through the drawing rooms, theaters, and docks of early-19th-century Philadelphia.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Street’s writing is evocative and true to the period while the plot unwinds in unexpected ways.” —Historical Novel Society

From the Publisher