Edgar Allan Poe and the Jewel of Peru

By Karen Lee Street

Poe and Dupin return for another addictive historical mystery

‘Deliciously morbid...full of shuddersome gothic effects’ Ripperologist magazine

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oneworld Publications
• Release date: Jul 23, 2018
• ISBN: 9781786073396

Karen Lee Street

Karen Lee Street has over twenty years international experience as a script development executive and workshop leader. She was instrumental in setting up the European Script Fund (now MEDIA Programme, development), the co-developer of numerous award-winning films from eighteen countries. As Head of Development, she evaluated hundreds of scripts each year and helped develop all 'ESF' supported projects from concept to production.

Reviews for Edgar Allan Poe and the Jewel of Peru

[john257hopper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the second literary mystery featuring Edgar Allan Poe teaming up with his fictional detective, Auguste Dupin, this time in his native Philadelphia, investigating a mysterious case involving real live and stuffed birds and treasure books brought back from darkest Peru. I didn't find this as gripping as The London Monster, perhaps partly because Victorian London seemed to me like a more appropriate setting for such a dark story, though this feeling makes no sense given Poe's nationality. It seemed a bit too convoluted and fantastical, and I found the info dumps on species of birds a bit much. It was well written and I will read the third in the trilogy, but was left feeling a bit dissatisfied with this one.