On Night's Shore

Rating:
Summary: New York Times review
Review: By MARILYN STASIO

The vibrant panorama of New York City in 1840 that Randall Silvis spreads before our eyes in ON NIGHT'S SHORE (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's Minotaur...) bears little resemblance to the flat, static scenes that unroll like so much wallpaper in most historical mysteries. Even more arresting is his sleuth, a wild-eyed newspaper journalist who signs himself E. A. Poe and makes his meager living peddling sensational crime stories like the one that captures his imagination here -- the murder of a shopgirl, Mary Rogers, whose bloated body is discovered in the Hudson River by Augie Dubbins, a 10-year-old ragamuffin who narrates the tale from the vantage of an old man.

The lively investigation conducted by this oddly matched pair of sleuths is interesting in its own right, providing rich background on the seminal short story (''The Mystery of Marie Rogt'') that helped establish Poe as the father of ratiocinative detective fiction. But let's give Silvis his own creative due. Despite his mannered tendency to ape what Augie calls Poe's ''funny way with words,'' Silvis delivers pungent impressions of the living city, exploring its mansions, slums, morgue, prisons, poorhouses and opium dens for all the ambient sounds and smells that define the character of a busy, brawling, unwashed metropolis.

Rating:
Summary: New York Times review
Review: In 1840 New York, writer Edgar Allen Poe, needing something that pays the bills, accepts a job as a reporter for The Mirror. Obtaining the job is easy for Mr. Poe, but finding a story proves a bit more difficult until he meets ten-year-old waif Augie Dubbins, who seems to make a better than him by conning immigrants and stealing food. The ragamuffin child escorts Poe to the Hudson River docks where they find the corpse of Mary Rogers, a young shopgirl.

Poe reports the case in the Mirror. Due to the story grabbing the attention of the entire city, his editor sends him to conduct a follow-up article. The official investigation seems totally inadequate to Poe. Along with Master Dubbins, Poe begins his own inquiries not yet realizing the danger he places himself and his young sidekick in.

ON NIGHT'S SHORE is an exciting historical mystery that is very entertaining as it brings alive a bygone era in New York City. The historical references provide a feel for the period even as the author states he took poetic license with specific dates for improved plotting purposes. The sleuthing by Poe and partner is made to fit what is known of the writer so that the audience can picture him wandering the city in pursuit of a story. An elderly Augie looking back in time tells the story. This technique works because the narrator transposes his matured thought process and feelings onto himself as a child, which in turn gives the tale its heart. That feeling is more genuine because long-term memories are often obfuscated by time. Randall Silvis provides sub-genre fans with a delightful look at Edgar Allen Poe, amateur sleuth.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Poe mystery evokes New York
Review: In the summer of 1840 a New York street urchin witnesses a young woman throw her baby, then herself, into the murky Hudson River. Making a few pennies recounting the tragedy, ten-year-old Augie Dubbins meets an impoverished young journalist, Edgar Allan Poe.

Together they discover the body of another young woman caught under the docks and embark on an investigation which takes them from the squalor of the Five Points slums to the glitter of Fifth Avenue, where Augie learns that ruthless depravity thrives at all levels of society.

Narrated by Augie many years later "On Night's Shore" seamlessly incorporates elements of Poe's later tales into the narrative - "The Mystery of Marie Roget," "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Black Cat" - without overreaching. Poe is a gloomy, driven man whose genius is beset by poverty, nagging self-doubt and bouts of drunkenness. Augie, brutalized, clever, and resourceful ("in calamity, opportunity"), attaches himself to Poe as a father figure, enchanted by his family circle of consumptive, gentle wife and strong, generous mother-in-law.

Despite occasional backsliding into, respectively, despair and opportunism, Poe and Augie bring out the best in one another and together they delve into Mary Rogers' working class life, shattering several official versions of the murder on their winding path into the bastions of city power. Atmospheric and suspenseful, Silvis' ("An Occasional Hell," "Excelsior") character-driven story brings the city to life in all its cruelty and grandeur and the writing - mannered, gritty and eloquent - evokes the voice and sensibility of the time.

Rating:
Summary: A must-read for mystery buffs and Poe fans alike
Review: The father of the modern detective story takes center stage in a riveting tale of murder, corruption and redemption. A street urchin discovers a dead girl, and chance leads his path across that of struggling journalist Edgar Allan Poe. Ever the alert profiteer, Augie Dubbins reveals his grisly find to Poe in exchange for a coin. The two then find themselves navigating a labyrinth of contradictory evidence and repelling attempts both on their lives and on their integrity in order to expose the murder's identity and motive. In so doing, man and boy find in each other a commonality that transcends their divergent backgrounds. Poe is the nearest thing to a father Augie has ever known; his home and family life are paradise to a child who has known only squalor and violence. Augie serves a purpose for Poe as well, becoming a no-nonsense, street-smart caretaker when Poe's dark instabilities cast their enervating shadow on him.

Silvis recreates 1840s New York with an unstinting and often brutal clarity. His elegant, evocative prose is suggestive of Poe's own style and his narrative integrates elements from Poe's more popular works. The characters, real and fictional alike, are masterpieces of insight into the human experience. Nowhere is this insight more evident than in the author's rendering of Edgar Allan Poe, a brilliant, compassionate and fatally complex man whose devotion to his work was exceeded only by his love for his family.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting read...
Review: This mystery opens with a young boy viewing the murder and suicide of a baby and its young mother. Another body is discovered and the story begins. Resolution of the mystery surrounding the death of shopgirl Mary Rogers is augmented by the telling of the relationship between street urchin Augie and Edgar Alan Poe. It's rare to find a mystery where the reader is so taken in by the characters...a very worthwhile read.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting read...
Review: This mystery opens with a young boy viewing the murder and suicide of a baby and its young mother. Another body is discovered and the story begins. Resolution of the mystery surrounding the death of shopgirl Mary Rogers is augmented by the telling of the relationship between street urchin Augie and Edgar Alan Poe. It's rare to find a mystery where the reader is so taken in by the characters...a very worthwhile read.