Baltimore, 1849. The body of Edgar Allan Poe has been buried in an unmarked grave. The conclusion that Poe was a second-rate writer who died a drunkard is accepted by all. But none of this deters Quentin Clark, an ardent admirer who risks his own career and reputation in a passionate crusade to salvage Poe’s.
Clark discovers that Poe’s last days are riddled with vital unanswered questions. But just when Poe’s death looks destined to remain a mystery, Qentin seeks out the one person who can solve this strange case: the real-life model for Poe’s brilliant fictional detective character, C. Auguste Dupin. Having successfully recruited the man he believes to have inspired Poe’s Dupin. Clark is confronted by another claiming to be true model. The two master detectives each seek to prove he is the real “Dupin” by solving the mystery of Poe’s death. Clark finds himself enmeshed in sinister machinations and, with his own future hanging in the balance, he must turn master investigation himself to unchain his own imperilled fate from that of Poe.