The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe

The Murders in the Rue Morgue is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in Grahams Magazine in 1841. It has been recognized as the first modern detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his tales of ratiocination. Two works that share some similarities predate Poes stories, including Das Fräulein von Scuderi (1819) by E. T. A. Hoffmann and Zadig (1747) by Voltaire.   C. Auguste Dupin is a man in Paris who solves the mystery of the brutal murder of two women. Numerous witnesses heard a suspect, though no one agrees on what language was spoken. At the murder scene, Dupin finds a hair that does not appear to be human.   As the first fictional detective, Poes Dupin displays many traits which became literary conventions in subsequent fictional detectives, including Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. Many later characters, for example, follow Poes model of the brilliant detective, his personal friend who serves as narrator, and the final revelation being presented before the reasoning that leads up to it. Dupin himself reappears in The Mystery of Marie Rogêt and The Purloined Letter.