"The Pale Blue Eye" by Louis Bayard

I was very much looking forward to this book: a murder mystery featuring Edgar Allan Poe as a character, set in the early years of the 19th century at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point - what's not to love?

Well, this book is pretty much not to love. I don't usually let a pervasive emotion put me off a book, but this hits me as a very sad book indeed. I don't want to spoil anyone's enjoyment of this novel, but there is NO ONE in the book who should be above suspicion. Some of the descriptions of the area are quite effective, and the protrayal of Poe rises above the pedestrian - I liked it - but overall, you might want to spend your valuable time elsewhere.