Exquisite Wickedness: Two Murders and the Making of Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”

by Andrew K. Amelinckx

"The Tell-Tale Heart," one of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous short stories, has inspired artists, filmmakers, and writers since its first publication in 1843. But it was two murders a decade apart that helped inspire Poe to write his macabre masterwork of psychological fiction.

In Salem, Massachusetts, in April 1830, the ruthless murder of an old and wealthy sea captain rattled the city's rich, sullied Salem's reputation, and helped launch America's obsession with true crime.

A decade later, in December 1840, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, a wealthy banker mysteriously disappeared. The discovery of his mangled corpse and the demeanor of his alleged killer made for great headlines in New York's new Penny Press and planted the seeds for Poe's masterpiece.

Poe's life during the period of these murders went from idealistic poet to soldier to struggling writer, set adrift by family rifts and his stubborn nature.

Exquisite Wickedness examines these two crimes, Poe's life during this period, the circumstances of the writing of his famous story, and an unbelievable betrayal whose effects have lasted far beyond the grave.

Genres: History, True Crime

192 pages, Paperback

Published March 29, 2021

About the author

Andrew Amelinckx is a freelance journalist who has previously written three historical true crime books. He held down a variety of jobs, from bartending in New Orleans to burlesque dancing in New York City, before spending a decade as an award-winning investigative crime reporter for several news organizations, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning Berkshire Eagle. His work has appeared in Business Insider, Smithsonian, Men’s Journal, Modern Farmer, Grunge.com, and elsewhere. He's represented by Jeff Ourvan of the Jennifer Lyons Literary Agency. Andrew grew up in Louisiana and now lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with his wife and dog.

Reviews

[MKF · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like that this book is written more like a novel than an actual non-fiction book. I think that may be part of the reason it didn't capture my attention. I also found this book a bit confusing trying to remember names and the relationships between all the characters. It didn't help with the author jumping from topic to topic without any warning at all. An example was near the beginning when she talks about people being in jail and the next thing was about a letter. The author actually writes "The letter." So, I assumed it was something I missed and spent so much time going back and rereading looking for information this letter. Nope it was something new added to the story placed right after discussing something completely different. It just makes the text even more confusing than it already is.
As for Poe it becomes pretty obvious he's just here to sell books. He gets an occasional chapter and mentions in another chapter with some history and then it's back to the real stories of the two crimes.
It's a difficult book at least for me so I had to give it one star.

[Ginny Kaczmarek · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting glimpse into a couple of sensational murder trials juxtaposed with some biography of Poe at around the same time, but the overall book never quite gels. The preface makes the argument that these trials influenced Poe, and the rest is painstakingly recreated details of each crime and Poe’s life.