The Oblong Box

The story that invented the detective. C. Auguste Dupin solves an impossible locked-room killing by reasoning alone, and every fictional detective since has worked from this template.

Edgar Allan Poe

Dupin solves a real murder. Poe took the unsolved killing of a New York shop girl, moved it to Paris, and reasoned toward an answer while the actual case was still open.

Edgar Allan Poe

The third Dupin tale and the one philosophers keep coming back to. A stolen letter is hidden so obviously that the police cannot see it.

Edgar Allan Poe

A cipher, a buried treasure, and the most popular thing Poe published in his lifetime. It also did more than any other story to make cryptography a public fascination.

Edgar Allan Poe

A convalescent watches a London street and then follows one old man for a full day and night. The first modern story about the city itself, and a favourite of anyone studying urban writing.

Edgar Allan Poe