Edgar Allan Poe and the Jewel of Peru

By Karen Lee Street

Summary:  
Philadelphia, early 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. Could his nemesis have 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 sceptical of her claims to receive 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 soulmates, ornithomancy, and the legendary jewel of Peru.

Group Reviews/Comments:

1 thumbs up
9 thumbs down

One of the biggest questions we had was “why Edgar Allan Poe?” as the detective? Poe married his 13 year old cousin, was a drunk and a gambler. None of these facts were part of his character in this novel. So why choose Poe if you aren’t going to be true to the source? If you love Poe so much, but don’t want to dwell on the unsavory aspects of his personality, then make him a minor character!

Aside from this historically inaccurate portrayal, most of our readers were unimpressed with the writing and the mystery. There were a couple readers who classified themselves as “soft thumbs down” but those who really didn’t like the book were vocal in their dislike!

“Poe was a very bland character.”
“The attempt to develop a series was poorly done.”
The mystery was poor, the whole thing just silly.”
“I couldn’t bring myself to care about anyone or anything at all.”
“I hated Poe’s character.”
“There was no real sense of who Dupin was.”
“So much was totally unnecessary.”
“Way too much allusion to the first book. If you hadn’t read it none of it made sense.”
“Tedious to read.”
“Way too much going on.”

As you can tell, most of us really didn’t like this book. If you feel differently, please leave a comment for us!