Vote for Your Favorite Edgar Allan Poe Story
By Crime HQ
October 3, 2017Don't see your favorite Poe story? Let us know which is your favorite in the comments below!
Edgar Allan Poe
A Pioneering Profiler and His Fictional Forerunners
By Michael Cannell
April 13, 2017Read this exclusive guest post from Michael Cannell, author of Incendiary: The Psychiatrist, the Mad Bomber, and the Invention of Criminal Profiling, and make sure to sign in and comment below for a chance to win a signed copy of the book! New York convulsed with anxiety in 1956 as police searched in vain for…
Happy President’s Day to the Most Famous Lawyer/Thriller-Writer In History (It’s Not Who You Think)
By Barry Lancet
February 20, 2017Who’s the most famous lawyer-author of all time? Nope, not John Grisham. Here are some hints: Last week was his birthday. He grew up in a log cabin. He wore a tall top hat. And, oh yeah, he helped free the slaves.
Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart”: Why Are These Men Laughing?
By Susan Amper
January 19, 2017Today, Edgar A. Poe would have been 208 years old. His birthday gift to readers is stories that just keep on giving. Have you ever heard “Little Red Riding Hood” or “The Three Little Pigs” told from the wolf’s point of view? If you think that’s amusing, try this one: “The Tell-Tale Heart” from the…
The 1830 True Murder Behind Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”
By Kristen Houghton
December 1, 2016A brutal crime in Salem, Massachusetts inspired author Edgar Allan Poe to write his famous psychological murder mystery, “The Tell-Tale Heart.” On the evening of April 6, 1830, the murder of 82-year-old Captain Joseph White, a wealthy retired shipmaster and trader, shocked the residents of the small town of Salem. White lived in a distinguished…
The Adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe: The Good, the Bad, and the Appalling
By Angie Barry
October 31, 2016Poor Edgar. While he enjoyed a modicum of critical success in his lifetime, he died at the age of forty, penniless and under mysterious, still unsolved circumstances. He was orphaned at an early age, clashed frequently with his foster father, lost his young wife to tuberculosis, and his reputation was almost completely destroyed by his…
Classic Mysteries and Mysterious Classics
By Katherine Bolger Hyde
July 6, 2016Read this exclusive guest post from Katherine Bolger Hyde, author of Arsenic with Austen, about the importance of reading the classics, and then, make sure you're signed in and comment for a chance to win a copy of the 1st book in the new Crime with the Classics series! Nowadays, it’s generally assumed that crime fiction…
How Would You Dispose of a Body?
By Crime HQ
June 28, 2016Anyone can be a killer—but the disposal of a body can be a difficult task. Doing it successfully can mean the difference between freedom and a lifetime behind bars. There are several different examples in pop culture of successfully getting rid of a dead body—some more graceful than others… So, if it were up to…
2016 Edgar Awards Reviews
By Crime HQ
April 1, 2016The Edgar Award, in honor of the great Edgar Allan Poe, is presented by The Mystery Writers of America to the best in mystery fiction & nonfiction that was produced during the previous year. Here at Criminal Element, we'll be covering the Edgars during the entire month of April, leading up to the awards ceremony…
Antique, Bronze Edgar Allan Poe Brooch
By Crime HQ
March 8, 2016“There is no exquisite beauty… without some strangeness in the proportion.” -Edgar Allan Poe This vintage, antique brooch is just that—strange and beautiful. Edgar Allan Poe has transcended his writings and since become a symbol for the mysterious and macabre. And what better a setting than this daguerreotype portrait print inside an antique bronze brooch…