THE POE SHADOW

There's a mystery surrounding Edgar Allan Poe's death. Quentin Clark, lawyer and Poe devotee, risks his legal practice and his engagement to solve it, hoping to reverse the author's reputation for drinking and debauching. Clark discovers that C. Auguste Dupin, Poe's detective creation, is modeled after a real person, so he's off to Paris to find him. Erik Singer's understated performance resonates with credibility. Villains are thwarted and the truth uncovered using ratiocination, and Singer makes the first-person account completely plausible. He reads Matthew Pearl's blend of history and fiction with assurance. His phrasing and pronunciation reflect an excellent grasp of period diction, and his accents--American, British, and French--ring true. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 06]