 Poe wrote " The Murders in the Rue Morgue " at a time when crime was at the forefront in people 's minds due to urban development . London had recently established its first professional police force and American cities were beginning to focus on scientific police work as newspapers reported murders and criminal trials . " The Murders in the Rue Morgue " continues an urban theme that was used several times in Poe 's fiction , in particular " The Man of the Crowd " , likely inspired by Poe 's time living in Philadelphia . 
