I recently read a couple of Thomas De Quincey’s more famous pieces of writing and that was in prep for jumping into this series in which De Quincey is a central character. De Quincey is an elderly man in this book, still struggling with his opium addiction, accompanied by his strong-willed daughter, a young woman intent on bucking patriarchal traditions. The two find themselves drawn into a murder investigation when an unknown person begins to carry out brutal crimes seemingly inspired by De Quincey’s writings. The characters here are pretty stock and Morrell’s prose is mostly flat and uninspired. The book does occasionally take flight when it revolves around violence or real suspense. The book begins with a harrowing, very graphic description of a multiple murder that involves, among other things, the violent death of a young child and an infant. At that point, I think most people will either bail or buckle up. I buckled up, but I don’t think the book ever lived up to that vicious and intense opening. It’s a jaw-dropping opening gambit for sure, but it rarely even comes close to those heights again. There are nice sequences, like a lengthy, very tense section of the book that takes place when a killer infiltrates a prison where De Quincey has been locked up on suspicion of being an accomplice to the murders. The action in that sequence is breathless and intense. On the whole, I wouldn’t really recommend this book, but it’s a short series (only three full-length novels and one short story) and it’s interesting enough so I’m going to proceed with the series. 2 ½ stars.
tl;dr – mystery revolving around noted literary figure Thomas De Quincey is mostly unremarkable, except for the sequences of violence, which are rendered with incredible intensity. 2 ½ stars.