Description
Edgar Allan Poe is an American boy in England, a child standing on the edge of mysteries. In 1819, two Americans arrive in London. Soon afterward a bank collapses, a man is found horribly mutilated on a building site, and an heiress flirts with her inferiors. All the while, Poe's young schoolmaster struggles to understand what is happening before he and his loved ones are destroyed. But the truth, like the youthful Poe himself, has its origins in the New World as well as the Old-in a bitter episode of corruption during the War of 1812. With settings ranging from the coal-scented urban jungle of late Regency London to the stark winter landscapes of a rural Gloucestershire, An Unpardonable Crime is a multi-layered literary murder mystery, a historical novel, and a love story. In addition to shedding fascinating light on Edgar Allan Poe, the book is a fast-paced suspenseful tale, filled with shocking revelations.
Product recommendations
by Brad Taylor
by Theodore Taylor
by Taylor Caldwell
by Alan Taylor
by Andrew Ervin
by Andrew Clements
by Andrew Porter
by Christopher Mulligan, Craig Taylor
by John Ringo, Travis Taylor
by Taylor M. Polites
by Andrew J. Fenady
Professional reviews
"It is Regency England in 1819. Our narrator, Thomas Shield, is a schoolmaster who becomes tutor to a pampered English banker's son and an American named Edgar Allan Poe. Soon a stranger accosts the boys, the banker appears to have been killed, a mysterious American appears, and Shield must save himself while protecting those he cares for. Although the references to Edgar Allan Poe are gratuitous, the atmospheric mystery is lots of fun. Simon Vance does a lovely job of making the complex sentences and bygone words of the period writing style easy to listen to. Both his English and his American characters sound right, which is an impressive feat. And the large cast, from English boys to East End women to a middle-aged black Canadian servant, are believable. Entirely involving. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine"
Sign up for our email newsletter