Review: Fun Historical Mystery with Spec Fic Elements
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 5, 2012
My Clockwork Muse (A Poe Files Mystery)Author: D.R. EricksonGenre: Historical Mystery/Speculative FictionRating: 4 StarsMy Clockwork Muse is a fun take on historical mystery that spices things up with both the presence of Edgar Allan Poe and speculative fiction elements.Summary:When someone starts murdering people in ways apparently inspired by Edgar Allan Poe stories, who better than the author himself to solve the crimes? When the evidence and his own behavior begin to point at the man himself, he'll have to take on a murderer, his own questionable mind, and the police to find the truth.Review:It's only fitting that Edgar Allan Poe, the father of English language detective fiction, should get his shot at solving crimes in the occasional story. As My Clockwork Muse begins, he's called upon by the authorities to help look into some murders that appear to be based on his own stories. Poe himself is resistant to the idea, fully aware that his own mystery skills are enhanced considerably by him knowing who committed the crime in his stories in advance. As bodies begin piling up and strange events keep occurring though, poor Poe finds himself drawn deeper into the investigation.There's also the unfortunate possibility that's he quite insane and may be involved himself. Indeed, the story raises rather quickly the question of how much we can trust the perceptions of Poe. Insane men do not make for the most reliable of narrators, after all. The ambiguity does a lot in enhancing the mystery and the related dramatic tension.The story is rather fixated on Poe's point of view and psychological state. Though Mr. Erickson doesn't seek to emulate Poe's prose style, his use of such elements does provide a nice homage to his main character's writing style and subjects of concern. Admittedly, it was probably to Mr. Erickson's benefit that he did not attempt to emulate Mr. Poe's style and instead used an comfortably accessible style that plausibly presents us a first-person narrative that still feels like it could come from Poe.While I'm no Poe biographer and I think it'd be a stretch to insist that Mr. Poe would have reacted exactly the way his fictional counterpart does in this story, I never felt either that any of the in-story Poe's actions seemed bizarre or particularly out of character for the man. A colorful assortment of side characters both help and hinder Poe in seeking out the truth. While not every character gets the same attention as Mr. Poe, they all are distinct and memorable.Also, as benefiting a man who contributed to horror and speculative fiction, those elements are a part of this narrative. So, anyone seeking a straight-forward historical mystery should take that into account. That said, I personally enjoyed the speculative fiction elements.There are anachronisms in the setting, but it seems a minor quibble to complain about a gun appearing too soon or curiously advanced immunology knowledge when you already have speculative fiction elements in the story line. Plus, for the most part, the anachronistic elements (such as Mr. Poe's favorite choice in self-defense firearm) only add to the fun of the whole affair.Note: A Free Review copy was provided by the author.