From Publishers Weekly The titular "Edgar" of Rusch's sharply written debut is Edgar Allan Poe himself: somebody is committing murders in Poe's name and leaving behind garish works of art to mark the connection—such as a woman's skull with a gold ribbon dangling from an eye socket. The little girl who finds the skull in an oak tree in a park near Chicago takes home a vital clue associated with "The Gold Bug." A second woman's bizarre murder has an obvious link to another Poe story. Elizabeth Taylor Hewitt, a special agent of the Illinois state police, enlists her ex-lover, Scott Gregory, who just happens to be a Poe expert, in decoding the clues—and becomes a potential victim of a mad but also resourceful serial killer known as the Raven. Hewitt is literary without being pretentious, and often hilariously outspoken. When a county sheriff describes the way the first victim's skull was attached to the tree, Elizabeth comments, "That's the way Martha Stewart always insisted on hanging a skull." With quality ingredients like these, Hewitt could well be back for another outing—and some day Rusch may be handed an Edgar of his own.
Update 12/27/07: Finished reading this today - the 5th and last in my Poe-related bookrays. I thought this was a pretty good page-turner with lots of gore and mystery. However, to me the identity of the killer was pretty obvious. Overall though, I did enjoy the book.
Started and finished on my 1/18 - 1/22 trip to Puerto Rico.
It was a different style than I'm used to reading, but Rusch still made it quite enjoyable. It didn't have the Baltimore connection that I was hoping, but the Poe inclusions were very interesting...something I wouldn't have thought of otherwise. The ending was a bit predictable...I solved it way before Hewitt did...despite all the distractions in the plot and secondary subplots!
On to sarradee next. If you're reading this, sarradee, PM me your address!
I finished this one last night. I liked the idea of it but sometimes would lose interest during the story. There were some very creepy moments in the book. I liked the descriptions they made very vivid pictures in my head! I will have to watch for more books by this author!
This was my least favorite of the Poe cycle bookrings. It just seems like it was written in a pretty simplistic langauge and style. I figured out what was going on long before the pro did.
Mailed on to ielfling in New Zealand today.
Journal Entry 18 by ielfling on Monday, November 24, 2008
I'm so sorry for the delay on this! No, it didn't mysteriously vanish but is safely in the Antipodes... I will read it and pass it on post haste. A big belated thanks to LyekkaMarengo for sending this down to me!
Journal Entry 19 by ielfling on Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Like others, I found the killer's identity fairly easy to spot, but that's not a big deal for me if a book is enjoyable in other ways. I found the style quite jarring though - clunky metaphors that kept jolting me out of the narrative, and characters I couldn't connect with. I still really like the idea of Poe-themed mystery, but this wasn't a great read. I'll pm adeps today and post it off.
Update: adeps is taking a break from bookrays due to busyness, so I've just pm'd Kislany, one of three bookcrossers who include this title on their wishlist.
For Edgar
