The Mystery of Marie Roget

"The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe written in 1842. This is the first murder mystery based on the details of a real crime. Poe's detective character C. Auguste Dupin and his sidekick the unnamed narrator undertake the unsolved murder of Marie Rogêt in Paris. The body of Rogêt, a perfume shop employee, is found in the Seine River and the press takes a keen interest in the mystery. Dupin remarks that the newspapers "create a sensation... rather than to further the cause of truth". Even so, he uses the newspaper reports to get into the mind of the murderer.