The Dead Letter

I received this book free from Poison Pen Press for an honest review. 

The cover states this book is from the Library of Congress Crime Classics. Crime writing came about in 1841, when Edgar Allen Poe penned 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue.' This book, by Seeley Register, pseudonym of Metta Victoria Fuller Victor, was written in 1866 and was not only the first American crime fiction novel written, but the first one written by a woman. 

A man found dead in New York with no sign of reason for his murder. A legendary detective, a rumor of a ghost and a "dead letter" that has clues to lead to his killer, this book has all the trappings of a good mystery. 

I enjoyed the way the book was written, I felt it flowed well and even though the language is of the time, it was easy to follow. Although, Ill admit there were a few times I had to get out my dictionary. Throughout the book there are little notations at the bottom of the pages to either explain a word or something that is from that era that we no longer use, as in one case of derogatory remarks about Mexicans the notation remarked about how these terms are no longer used. I do not have a problem reading books from other eras where certain words or expression were offensive and are now not. 

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It kept me guessing all the way through. I had pretty much made up my mind who the killer was but was still surprised when, it was discovered that he was not the actual killer but just had a hand in it through payments. I really enjoyed the daughter of the detectives name: Lenore. Im not sure if the author named her that as an homage to Poe or not, none the less, I liked it. And it made me think of Poe, whom I enjoy reading as well. My only complaint would be that the detective, which is supposed to be so legendary, is killed off in the last chapter. I would have liked to have read more with him in it. Also, when I started it, I believed the book to be centered around the detective, kind of like Sherlock Holmes, but this was not the case.

If you are as interested in 1800's-1900's as I am then this is a book you may well enjoy. If you love a good mystery book then I highly recommend this book. I look forward to seeing what other books they release from the Library of Congress Crime Collection.