The Poe Shadow - Mathew Pearl

Its amazing how long a wafer thin plot can be sustainable without getting drab. Here's a book that stretches a great piece of true historical investigation into a grand tale of international intrigue and style. It almost pulls it off, but then again almost.....

Quentin Clark, the protagonist of the tale is sucked into an emotional whirlpool when he witnesses the burial of the great author Edgar Allen Poe in a non-descript grave in a Baltimore cemetery. Being a Poe fan, he suspects foul play at work and as one thing leading to another, he is obsessed by a desire to get Poe justice in death. After a number of futile attempts which slowly lead him perilously close to ruin, he accidentally comes across a news article which points to the role-model for the fictional detective of Poe's novels - Auguste Dupin.  Ensconed in Paris with the name Auguste Duponte Quentin seeks him out to solve the "murder". While in pursuit of Duponte in Paris, Quentin is accosted  by an "imposter" by the name Baron Auguste Dupin. Its now a race between the two Dupins to get to the root of Poe's death. The setting shifts back to Baltimore and the pace picks up from a snails jog to a horse trot. A heady cocktail is thrown in including French aristocracy and a murder. Quentin finds himself a murder accused while his raison-d-etre still lies unsolved. 

As a concept the novel is brilliant for a number of reasons- A great description of Baltimore and its society in the mid 19th century, an incisive view into Poe and his work, a brilliant piece of historical detective work using material never before published. But what works as a dampener is the ridiculous fiction that surrounds the core tale, the Dupins get tiring, the international intrigue is bizarre and totally distracting. Patience is rewarding though and the final denouement is definitely worth the wait.