The DNA of detection

An informative tribute, from the BBC.

It’s remarkable how many of the genre’s classic elements can be
traced back to the feverishly fertile imagination of one man, Edgar
Allan Poe. Once you start looking, the clues are everywhere.

Edgar Allan Poe is best known for his gloomy gothic tales

Born 200 years ago, on 19 January 1809, Poe was a prolific writer of
poetry, fiction and essays. But his influential contribution to crime
and detective fiction mainly derives from a handful of short stories.

The most important are the three featuring his French investigator, C Auguste Dupin.