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• 1 2014-06-07T17:24:14-07:00 The Blackest Bird : A Novel of Murder in Nineteenth-Century New York 2 books plain 2014-06-07T17:24:35-07:00

  Rose, Joel. The Blackest Bird : A Novel of Murder in Nineteenth-Century New York. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2007.

  The book starts with events in the case of the true life murderer, John Colt,  and the murder of Mary Rogers (best known for being the inspiration for Poe’s "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt").  The Poe section starts with lamentations of Virginia’s imminent death. John Colt from the first part of the book is in jail awaiting execution and a gangster has been arrested as well for a different murder. Colt reads The Mystery of Marie Rogêt while in jail. The story is being published in installments at the end of which Poe claims to unmask the killer.  Because of these things, the NY police start to investigate Poe in regards to the murder of Mary Rogers. 

  It is not written in a modern style nor is it written in a Poe-esque style either. Major character introductions run like the background of a character sheet for an RPG game. “His name is this, and he likes this, and he does this, and people say this about him, etc, etc, etc.”  There is a lot of exposition including a summary of The Mystery of Marie Rogêt.  There are many quotes from Poe.  Almost every character seem to know Poe and like his work.  There’s a lot of “newspaper clippings” included in the book, although I’m unsure if any of them (or all of them) are based on actual clippings from newspapers published in the time period. 

  Poe is shown asking where he can find opium, and blacking out from drunkeness.  He is bitter for his lot in life.  Mary Rogers is claimed to be Poe’s former lover.  Virginia Poe is accused of using her illness to keep Poe faithful to her. 

  Other non-fictitious characters appearing are Maria Clemm, Virginia Poe, poet Fitze-Greene Halleck. The Harper Brothers (James, John, Fletcher, and Joseph), Putnam.