The Murders in the Rue Morgue – Edgar Allan Poe

"To observe attentively is to remember distinctly."

Two women are found brutally murdered in a locked room in Paris. The police are baffled by the lack of motive and the inhuman strength required to commit the crime. C. Auguste Dupin, an amateur detective with extraordinary analytical powers, investigates the scene and uses pure logic to deduce that the killer is not a human being at all.

This story is widely considered the first detective story ever written. It introduced the character of the brilliant, eccentric detective and the 'locked room' mystery trope, laying the groundwork for Sherlock Holmes and the entire genre of crime fiction.