The notorious author Thomas De Quincey turns detective in a harrowing Victorian thriller from master storyteller David Morrell.
An artist of death is stalking Victorian London, recreating earlier masterpieces of murder.
Police suspicion falls on the notorious 'opium-eater' Thomas De Quincey, recently returned to the capital, who wrote in detail about the original crimes. Someone is using his essays as inspiration - and he must uncover the truth before the killer completes his work.
In MURDER AS A FINE ART, London becomes a battleground between a literary star and a brilliant murderer - whose lives are linked by secrets long buried, but never forgotten.
A gaslit gallop through Victorian London - Financial Times
A terrific read. As one would expect of Morrell, it is compulsive and thrilling, but its use of de Quincey also allows for discursions that are both funny and touching - de Quincey and his daughter are great additions to the detective stage, and I hope we will have a lot more of them to come. - Judith Flanders, author of The Invention of Murder
[An] exceptional historical mystery...page-flipping action, taut atmosphere, and multifaceted characters - Booklist
Shockingly real...Morrell's thorough and erudite research of the people and culture of the British Empire's heyday informs every page. A literary thriller that pushes the envelope of fear - Associated Press
Masterful...brilliantly plotted....evokes 1854 London with such finesse that you'll hear the hooves clattering on cobblestones - Entertainment Weekly
Brilliant. Everything works - the horrifying depiction of the murders, the asides explaining the impact of train travel on English society, nail-biting action sequences - making this book an epitome of the intelligent page-turner. - Publishers Weekly
David Morrell fans - and they are Legion - can look forward to celebrating Murder As a Fine Art as one of their favorite author's strongest and boldest books in years. - Dan Simmons, author of Drood
Praise for David Morrell - .
David Morrell is one of America's most popular and acclaimed storytellers, with over eighteen million copies of his books in print. His thrillers have been translated into twenty-six languages and turned into record-breaking films as well as top-rated TV miniseries. A former professor of American literature at the University of Iowa, David Morrell now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.