description: The Purloined Letter is the third of the three stories featuring the detective C. Auguste Dupin, the other two being The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Mystery of Marie Roget. These stories are considered important forerunners of the modern detective story. The method Poe's detective, Dupin, uses to solve the crime was quite innovative. He tried to identify with the criminal and to "think like he would." In May of 1844 Poe wrote to James Russell Lowell that he considered it "perhaps the best of my tales of ratiocination."
language: English
title: The Purloined Letter
titlecomplete: The Purloined Letter
characters: C. Auguste Dupin, The lunatic or drunkard, Minister D, The Queen, the Narrator (the three Dupin stories), Monsieur G
genres: Fiction, American, Short Stories, Mystery, Detective, Horror, Literature, Classics, 19th Century, Crime
ratings_count: 12104
places: Paris, France
series: C. Auguste Dupin
publisher: Random House Audio