Ruler of the Night

by David Morrell
333 pgs  (Thomas DeQuincy series #3)

Ruler of the Night concludes David Morrell’s fantastic Victorian era trilogy featuring the real-life historical figure Thomas De Quincey. Known for his autobiographical essay Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, De Quincey had a profound effect on our understanding of the nature of addiction. Once again, Morrell places De Quincey and his 22-year-old daughter Emily at the center of a murder mystery. This time, the murder they’re assisting Scotland Yard detectives Ryan and Becker in investigating is the first murder to take place on London’s new train system.

A high-profile solicitor is brutally stabbed to death in the locked first-class cabin of a train leaving London. De Quincey and his daughter happen to be traveling on the same train and are the first to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death. The murder turns out to be the first of multiple attacks to take place on the fledgling railway system, and the De Quincey’s investigation leads them to the highest echelons of British society.

This was a great series. I’ve enjoyed several of David Morrell’s books already, and fortunately, I have quite a few of his catalog to get to still. It’s obvious he’s been writing for a long time and has become a master at creating multi-layered characters and well-plotted storylines. My understanding is that this is the last book in the series, but I’m hopeful at some point down the road Morrell will decide it’s time to revisit Victorian England and check in with Thomas De Quincey and find out whether he still relies on the dangerous daily intake of laudanum to function.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Inspector of the Dead

by David Morrell
337 pgs (Thomas DeQuincy series #2)

In 1855 the British government collapsed for a period of eight weeks. The crisis came about as a result of England's inept handling of the Crimean War. Soldiers were starving to death due to the lack of food sent to the front, they were dying from exposure to the elements from being forced to wear their summer uniforms throughout the winter, and they were dying from diseases due to the lack of proper sanitation. Overall more soldiers were dying because of mismanagement then because of the war itself. The level of frustration back in England became so high that a vote of no confidence took place in order to dissolve the government.

While the country is in a state of political chaos, a serial killer begins targeting high-ranking members of British society. As Scotland Yard detectives Ryan and Becker investigate each murder scene, they discover a series of cards being left by the killer. These cards allude to the killers ultimate goal--assassinating Queen Victoria.

Once again assisted by England's famed "opium eater" Thomas De Quincy and his caregiving daughter Emily, Ryan and Becker have to try to uncover the identity of the killer before he's able to accomplish his goal.

Morrell first introduced these characters in his last book Murder as a Fine Art, which I thought was a great book. This one is just as good. Morrell effortlessly combines historical figures (De Quincy) and historical events (actual assassination attempts on Queen Victoria) into a thriller that is both captivating and true to history. De Quincy is a fascinating character and the more I learn about him through Morrell, the more I appreciate just how ahead of his time he was.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Murder as a Fine Art

by David Morrell
368 pgs  (Thomas DeQuincy series #1)

I haven't read many books by David Morrell, this is only the fourth. And of the three previous books I had read, two of them were very enjoyable, but one of them was disappointing. With Murder as a Fine Art, Morrell redeems himself strongly. Part of the appeal of the story is the time and place it's set in. There's something about stories that take place in Victorian England that really appeal to me. I don't know if it's because they remind me of Charles Dickens's books.

The story is about two sets of mass killings. The first is the historical and famous Ratcliffe Highway murders which took place in 1811 and which rivaled the Ripper murders in creating panic in the hearts of Londoners. The second involves a copycat killer in 1854 who is recreating the original crime scenes using the same weapon and creating the same level of fear and panic on the city's streets.

Morrell uses the historical figure of Thomas De Quincey, who had been obsessed with the Ratcliffe murders at the time and who had written an essay on them entitled "On Murder Considered as one of the Fine Arts" as a key character in his story.  De Quincey's essay had been controversial at the time as it focused on the high level of intelligence and forethought that went into committing the murders. Popular belief at the time was that only the basest members of society, those possessing the lowest levels of intelligence were capable of committing violent crimes such as these. De Quincey showed that to be untrue. These crimes were committed by a very intelligent and methodical killer and one who considered his atrocities a form of art.

Morrell does an excellent job in this book of telling two stories, one historical and the other fictional, and combining them into one captivating tale. His characters are strongly developed and by the end I was hopeful that Morrell would be bringing them back and creating a series of books featuring them.


★ ★ ★ ★ ☆