Murder as a Fine Art (Morrell) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
As might be expected from the creator of Rambo, Morrell writes action scenes like nobody's business.
Marilyn Stasio - New York Times


[Morrell's] 26th [novel] and surely one of his best—introduces a new hero.... He’s the real-life writer Thomas De Quincey, best remembered for Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, who, as this story unfolds in 1854, is 69 years old, five feet tall, frail and hopelessly addicted to the opium-based drink laudanum—yet able enough to use his intellectual powers to lead the search for a serial killer who fancies himself an artist.... Murder as a Fine Art may or may not be fine art, but it's an inspired blend of innovation, history and gore. Murder is rarely this much fun.
Patrick Anderson - Washington Post


The drama feels shockingly real because Morrell’s thorough and erudite research of the people and culture of the British Empire’s heyday informs every page of the novel.
Associated Press


(Starred review.) A killer copying the brutal 1811 Ratcliffe Highway murders terrorizes 1854 London in this brilliant crime thriller from Morrell. The earlier slaughters, attributed to a John Williams, were the subject of a controversial essay by Thomas De Quincey entitled “On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts.” ... The similarities send the police after De Quincey, who, aided by his able daughter Emily, must vindicate himself and catch the killer.... [A]n epitome of the intelligent page-turner.
Publishers Weekly


Three sleuths...hunt for a killer who has replicated a pair of 40-year-old massacres.... Verdict: Morrell hooks the reader early and moves the action along swiftly. He also effectively captures a long-gone London and details how the city was changing as it moved into the industrial age. This diverting thriller will please the many readers who enjoy historical crime fiction. —David Keymer, Modesto, CA
Library Journal


In 1854, a series of senseless killings in London so closely echo the literary work of [real-life] Thomas De Quincey that he becomes the principal suspect.... De Quincey is quite convincing, but most of his other characters lack the same depth.... In trying too hard to bring certain threads full circle, the book's climax comes across as a bit contrived. But the charming central conceit—a laudanum-chugging De Quincy chasing a killer through fog-shrouded Victorian London—goes a long way toward making up for the novel's glaring shortcomings, as do several tense, well-paced action sequences.
Kirkus Reviews