The Gold-Bug given. Nevertheless, the Legrand character is often compared to Poe's fictional detective C. Auguste Dupin due to his use of "ratiocination". "Ratiocination", a term Poe used to describe Dupin's method, is the process by which Dupin detects what others have not seen or what others have deemed unimportant. Poe originally sold "The Gold-Bug" to George Rex Graham for "Graham's Magazine" for $52 but asked for it back when he heard about a writing contest sponsored by Philadelphia's "Dollar Newspaper". Incidentally, Poe did not return the money to Graham and instead offered to make it up to him with reviews he
Detective fiction a few debut and swansong stories: Detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—either professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as speculative fiction and other genre fiction in the mid-nineteenth century and has remained extremely popular, particularly in novels. Some of the most famous heroes of detective fiction include C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot. Juvenile stories featuring The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Boxcar Children have also remained in print for several decades. Some