My choice of this particular book was determined by the previous one I read, "Martian chronicles" by R. Bradbury, as the author and his tales were mentioned there and I was curious to see what it was all about. As it turns out, Poe's main character Auguste Dupin was the prototype of Sherlock Holmes. All three tales include Dupin's lengthy deliberations on the facts and events related to the crimes that have been committed and subsequent resolution of all the riddles posed by each particular case. I guess if I had read these tales before those featuring Sherlock Holmes I would have definitely appreciated them more. The plot is truly original and the details of some of the stories are realistic and gruesome. However, Dupin's musings are somewhat too theoretical at times while some tales seem more like a monologue not too much fun to read. The language, too, is rather challenging which is no wonder as the book was written in the XIXth century.

On the whole I enjoyed reading Poe's tales about Dupin, though it requires certain tenacity on the part of the reader, I must confess.