The Rector of Veilbye
by Steen Steensen Blicher

The Rector of Veilbye cover
Cover of The Rector of Veilbye

This is considered the first modern crime novel, predating Poe by about a decade, and Sherlock Holmes by fifty years. It’s a psychological crime story, rather than a whodunit. Mark Twain plagiarized Blicher’s novel for Tom Sawyer, Detective, but the original is better.

Full review at Multo.