Official Review: The Girl Behind the Wall--Edgar Allan Po...

AlexisLib · Post by **AlexisLib** » 10 Jan 2021, 22:34

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Girl Behind the Wall--Edgar Allan Poe, the Girl, and the Mysterious Raven Murders" by Bruce Wetterau.]

3 out of 4 stars

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In The Girl Behind the Wall--Edgar Allan Poe, the Girl, and the Mysterious Raven Murders by Bruce Wetterau, Clay Cantrell and Mac Harper, who are friends that restore historic buildings, go out on a job to repair a crumbling brick wall at the University of Virginia. As they remove the old bricks, they discover the body of a murdered girl dating back to the 1800s. She is wearing an inscribed locket from “Your devoted Eddy”; could it have been from Edgar Allan Poe, who attended the school at the same time? Might he be involved in her murder? They call the police and find themselves drawn in to work on solving the murder because suddenly the police don’t have the time to solve a 200-year-old murder. They have a serial murderer on their hands who keeps leaving clues related to Poe’s stories.

This book goes back and forth between Poe’s time and contemporary time. All of the characters feel real and appealing. The settings are vivid; I felt like I was there in both times. The author provides just enough information about Poe’s stories and how they relate to the plot and to Poe as a person. The suspense increases as the plots unfold and there are several places where I couldn’t put the book down.

I recommend this book for adults and older teens. There are some disturbing scenes that may be difficult for sensitive readers. People who are interested in Poe will find it intriguing; it made me want to read Poe stories that I hadn’t read yet and more about Poe’s life. Wetterau appears to have done his research well, and this glimpse into Poe’s life, stories, and time is fascinating. At the same time, the mysteries keep the plot moving and I really wanted to know what was going to happen in the end.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. With the well-written characters and settings, plus the intriguing plot, I wanted to give it 4 stars, but the number of errors detracted from the quality. In addition to some formatting inconsistencies and missing words, there were multiple missing close quotation marks in dialogue, which made it harder to figure out who was speaking. A professional proofread could make this book perfect. In spite of the errors, this book is a great read. The time periods, characters, description, dialogue, and plots are balanced masterfully and keep the reader turning the pages.

The Girl Behind the Wall--Edgar Allan Poe, the Girl, and the Mysterious Raven Murders is the third book in Wetterau’s Clay Cantrell Mystery series. Readers who enjoy Clay and Mac’s story may want to read the first book in the series, Lost Treasure, because it tells the story of events that are mentioned in The Girl Behind the Wall--Edgar Allan Poe, the Girl, and the Mysterious Raven Murders. If it is written as well as this book, it will be an enjoyable read.

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The Girl Behind the Wall--Edgar Allan Poe, the Girl, and the Mysterious Raven Murders
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Praise GodWord · Post by **Praise GodWord** » 14 Jan 2021, 00:09

I see this book as a crime thriller. But I have some reservations about this one.

KMGR70 · Post by **KMGR70** » 15 Jan 2021, 18:43

I actually do like Poe so this one caught my eye. I may want to read the Poe I have already downloaded before grabbing this one. Maybe by then it will have had a good edit. Thanks for the review!

NetMassimo · Post by **NetMassimo** » 18 Jan 2021, 04:25

This seems like a really intriguing mystery connected to Edgar Allan Poe. I hope the author does another round of proofreading to prevent distractions while reading it. Thank you for your great review!

AlexisLib · Post by **AlexisLib** » 23 Feb 2021, 03:43

KMGR70 wrote: ↑15 Jan 2021, 18:43 I actually do like Poe so this one caught my eye. I may want to read the Poe I have already downloaded before grabbing this one. Maybe by then it will have had a good edit. Thanks for the review!

Thank you! Just curious, which Poe book do you have? I read a lot of his stories in college but it's been awhile (ahem) and am thinking about rereading them and reading those I haven't read yet.

AlexisLib · Post by **AlexisLib** » 23 Feb 2021, 03:46

NetMassimo wrote: ↑18 Jan 2021, 04:25 This seems like a really intriguing mystery connected to Edgar Allan Poe. I hope the author does another round of proofreading to prevent distractions while reading it. Thank you for your great review!

Thank you! It really was intriguing, I am still thinking about it. I would love to see more novels like this that incorporate a classic author into the story with factual information, I loved reading about an author this way!