Ellen Poe: The Forgotten Lore by Diana Peterfreund is a YA mystery with a touch of horror, which will officially be released on April 7, 2026. The publishers were kind enough to send me an advance copy for review.
As the title suggests, the novel draws on the works of Edgar Allan Poe for inspiration. Ellen Reynolds is a supposed descendant of Poe from one of his forgotten relationships. Even though it may only be a rumor, much of her family is Poe-obsessed, including Ellen’s aunt, with whom she’s currently living while her father is away for several months on a job. Aunt Marie is trying to launch a Poe-themes Bed and Breakfast, decorating some rooms according to Poe’s theories on furnishings, and others, including Ellen’s bedroom, around his stories. Ellen herself would prefer to downplay her connection, but while helping her aunt sort through boxes, she finds an old journal which appears to have belonged to Poe. It’s written in code, as Poe was known to do, and immediately after finding it, Ellen begins seeing Poe’s ghost. She’s already been having bad dreams since coming to live with her aunt, seeing dead people who appear to be in torment and waking with the feeling of being suffocated. Ellen’s already complicated life is further complicated when a new student named Gus joins her class and she immediately recognizes him as the dead boy from her dreams.
While there are references to Poe’s horror stories and poetry throughout the novel, Peterfreund leans most heavily into Poe as the originator of the modern detective story. There are two intertwined mysteries for Ellen to unravel – the mystery of her dreams and Gus’ death/near-death and the codes in the journal, which as she begins to solve them lead to a larger mystery surrounding artifacts related to Poe hidden across the city in various locations tied to his life and death.
The book is the first in a series, but strikes a good balance between wrapping up enough of the mystery, while leaving other threads open, to feel satisfying on its own. There is a light romance element, but the primary focus is on friendship as Ellen finds someone with common interests who encourages her to be herself in Gus, and also repairs another friendship that fell apart over a miscommunication. The true heart of the story though is Ellen figuring herself out, accepting her strengths and weakness, deciding what kind of person she wants to be, and coming to terms with her family legacy and both the positive and negative aspects of her relationship with her father.
The mystery elements blend well with the coming-of-age elements and the idea of finding one’s place in the world. There are some nice historical tidbits for Poe fans, and Peterfreund does include notes at the back pointing to which elements are taken from Poe’s life and which are inventions of the book. Overall it’s smoothly written and a satisfying read.
