Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), American novelist, poet, and critic. Advocate "art for art's sake" and promote aestheticism and mysticism. He was greatly influenced by the decadent school of bourgeois literature in Western Europe, especially France. His novels include "Weird Tales", "The Black Cat", "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", etc. His papers include "The Philosophy of Writing" and "Principles of Poetry".
Edgar Allan Poe is known as "the originator of detective novels". "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", "Roger Mystery" and "The Purloined Letter" are regarded as the forerunners of detective novels. "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is about a locked-room murder, and the murderer is actually an orangutan. "Roger's Mystery" uses news reports to solve the case purely through reasoning. "The Purloined Letter" is a model of the anatomy and logic of human psychology. In these three novels, the image of amateur detective Dupin was created, integrating scientific spirit and poetic charm into this ideal detective. It can be said that he is the predecessor of Sherlock Holmes in Conan Doyle's works.