Publisher's Synopsis
The Ratcliffe Highway murders of 1811 brought London 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 an 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 a blueprint. And De Quincey himself is the obvious suspect. He must uncover the truth before more blood is shed...