The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard follows in Bayard’s tradition of historical books. Where Mr. Timothy (review) followed the future adventures of a fictional person, The Pale Blue Eye brings us to the past of a real person. In this case, the real person is Edgar Allen Poe during his time in West Point. And it was a surprise to me that Poe was in West Point, but he was indeed there. Since Poe was pivotal in the development of the detective novel, it’s only appropriate that the story has Poe helping out a detective solving a murder…with a twist at the end that is truly unexpected.

In 1830 at West Point, a young man died by hanging. It is assumed that it was a suicide until his heart is cut out of his body. The renowned detective Augustus Landor is brought into West Point to solve the case. But Landor doesn’t assume that is was a suicide, he believes it might have been a murder. Since he needs a helper who can talk to other cadets, as only another cadet can, he selects a quiet but wide-eyed young man who considers himself a poet, Edgar Allen Poe. With Poe’s help, Landor starts making progress on the case. But Poe starts finding himself falling in love with the spinster sister of another cadet, Lea is her name reflects the name Lenore to Poe.

The central mystery of the book is not important. It is simply a mystery to hang the rest of the story on. The heart of the story is the relationship of Landor and Poe. Landor with his mysterious past and Poe with our knowledge of his future make a wonderful pairing. Bayard uses a simple device of Poe leaving letters to Landor to show us the world through Poe’s eyes and language. As the mystery becomes closer to being solved, the relationship gets hurt and the truth, eventually, comes out. And then the real truth comes out as well.

Bayard has done a wonderful job of not only evoking the time period and setting, but the language of a young Poe. The book is highly recommended.