Who is considered the forerunner of a detective novel?

Edgar Allan Poe (1809 –1849) was an American writer, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. Poe is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre and is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. Detective fiction in the English-speaking world is considered to have begun in 1841 with the publication of Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", featuring "the first fictional detective, the eccentric and brilliant C. Auguste Dupin".