Thomas and Emily de Quincey

3 primary works

Murder as a Fine Art

by David Morrell

Published 1 January 2013

The Ratcliffe Highway murders of 1811 were the most notorious mass killings in their day. Never fully explained, they brought London and all of England to the verge of panic.

Forty-three years later, the equally notorious 'opium eater' Thomas De Quincey returns to London. Along with his Confessions, he is known for a scandalous essay about the killings: 'On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts'.

Days after his arrival, a family is killed in the same horrific way as the earlier murders. It seems someone is using the essay as an inspiration - and a blueprint. And De Quincey himself is the obvious suspect. Aided by his daughter Emily and two determined Scotland Yard detectives, he must uncover the truth before more blood is shed... and London itself falls prey to attack.

In MURDER AS A FINE ART, gaslit London becomes a battleground between a literary star and a demented murderer - whose lives are linked by secrets long buried, but never forgotten.

Inspector of the Dead

by David Morrell

Published 24 March 2015

"Thomas De Quincey, infamous for his Confessions of an Opium-Eater, confronts London's harrowing streets to thwart the assassination of Queen Victoria. The year is 1855. The Crimean War is raging. The incompetence of British commanders causes the fall of the English government. The Empire teeters. Amid this crisis comes opium-eater Thomas De Quincey, one of the most notorious and brilliant personalities of Victorian England. Along with his irrepressible daughter, Emily, and their Scotland Yard companions, Ryan and Becker, De Quincey finds himself confronted by an adversary who threatens the heart of the nation. This killer targets members of the upper echelons of British society, leaving with each corpse the name of someone who previously attempted to kill Queen Victoria. The evidence indicates that the ultimate victim will be Victoria herself. As De Quincey and Emily race to protect the queen, they uncover long-buried secrets and the heartbreaking past of a man whose lust for revenge has destroyed his soul. Brilliantly merging historical fact with fiction, Inspector of the Dead is based on actual attempts to assassinate Queen Victoria"--

Ruler of the Night

by David Morrell

Published 15 November 2016

Opium addict Thomas De Quincey and his irrepressible daughter Emily investigate the strangling of a lawyer in what is the first murder on an English train, and they uncover a dangerous secret that reaches the highest levels of British society.