Edgar Allan Poe & The Murder of Mary Rogers

337 Pages·2006·1.91 MB·English

by  Daniel Stashower

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EDGAR ALLAN POE
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MURDER
AND THE 6
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MARY ROGERS
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4 ALSO BY DANIEL STASHOWER
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Nonfiction
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Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle
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The Boy Genius and the Mogul: The Untold Story of Television
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Fiction
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The Adventure of the Ectoplasmic Man
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Elephants in the Distance
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The Dime Museum Murders
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The Floating Lady Murder
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The Houdini Specter
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EDGAR ALLAN POE

MURDER
AND THE
MARY ROGERS
OF
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daniel stashower
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EDGAR ALLAN POE ANDT H E MURDER OF MARY ROGERS
AOneworld Book
First published in Great Britain by arrangement with Dutton,
by Oneworld Publications 2006
First published in the USA as The Beautiful Cigar Girl
by Dutton, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 2006
Copyright ©Daniel Stashower 2006
All rights reserved
Copyright under Berne Convention
ACIPrecord for this title is available
from the British Library
ISBN-13: 978-1-85168-501-1
ISBN-10:1-85168-501-4
Cover design by D. R. Ink
Designed by Leonard Telesca
Printed and bound by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall
Oneworld Publications
185 Banbury Road
Oxford OX2 7AR
England
www.oneworld-publications.com
NL08
Learn more about Oneworld. Join our mailing list to
find out about our latest titles and special offers at:
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For Miss Corbett.
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We’ll always have Breezewood.
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CONTENTS 3
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ROLOGUE Descent into the Maelstrom / 1
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P O : 10
ART NE Her Dark Smile / 11
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1.A Gallant Gay Lothario 13 12
2.I Tremble for the Consequence 31 13
3.Left Home on Sunday 52 14
4.Very Clever with His Pen 60 15
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ART WO The Unpleasantness at Sybil’s Cave / 73 17
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5.A Person of Chastity 75
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6.The Dead House 86
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7.The Sable Divinity of Night 104
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8.The Committee of Concerned Citizens 120
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9.A Most Notorious Scoundrel 132
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10.The Lost Hour 146
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11.Crackpots and Gossipists 153
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12.The Murder Thicket 163
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ART HREE The Fatal Sabbath / 173
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13.A Somewhat Wasted Heart 175 29
14.A Wave of Crimson 185 30
15.A Series of Coincidences 197 31
16.A Mansion Built on Baby Skulls 209 32
17.The Vanishing Rowboat 224 S33
18.At Variance with Truth 245 R34
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CONTENTS
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1 ART OUR The Lady Sleeps / 255
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19.It May Not Be Improper to Record 257
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20.The Imp of the Perverse 272
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PILOGUE One Last Wild Cry / 285
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Acknowledgments 309
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Selected Bibliography 311
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Index 317
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PROLOGUE
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Descent into the
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Maelstrom 3
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“Oh, Maria! Would to God you had reflected ere you had taken this
step!”The cover of a novel published in 1844, based on the S33
Mary Rogers case.Courtesy of the author R34
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