Murder as a Fine Art

Author: David Morrell
Publisher: Mulholland Books
ISBN: 0316216771
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 414

Book Description
A brilliant historical mystery series begins: in gaslit Victorian London, writer Thomas De Quincey must become a detective to clear his own name. Thomas De Quincey, infamous for his memoir Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, is the major suspect in a series of ferocious mass murders identical to ones that terrorized London forty-three years earlier. The blueprint for the killings seems to be De Quincey's essay On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts. Desperate to clear his name but crippled by opium addiction, De Quincey is aided by his devoted daughter Emily and a pair of determined Scotland Yard detectives. In Murder as a Fine Art, David Morrell plucks De Quincey, Victorian London, and the Ratcliffe Highway murders from history. Fogbound streets become a battleground between a literary star and a brilliant murderer, whose lives are linked by secrets long buried but never forgotten.

On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts

Author: Thomas De Quincey
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141397896
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 49

Book Description
'People begin to see that something more goes to the composition of a fine murder than two blockheads to kill and be killed - a knife - a purse - and a dark lane...' In this provocative and blackly funny essay, Thomas de Quincey considers murder in a purely aesthetic light and explains how practically every philosopher over the past two hundred years has been murdered - 'insomuch, that if a man calls himself a philosopher, and never had his life attempted, rest assured there is nothing in him'. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859). Thomas de Quincey's Confessions and an English Opium-Eater and Other Writings is available in Penguin Classics.

The Fine Art of Murder

Author: Emily Barnes
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
ISBN: 1629534781
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Book Description
Former Police Chief Katherine Sullivan has been called brilliant, brave, compassionate, and quirky, but after decades of crime fighting, this resilient grandmother with an artist's soul is discovering that retirement can be just as deadly as being on the job. When Katherine returned to her hometown, her only thought was to comfort her recently divorced daughter. That was before a young woman was found murdered on the estate of the town's richest family. Now, in order to track down the killer, Katherine must uncover the generations of secrets that at least one person as already killed to protect in this charming and smart series debut, The Fine Art of Murder.

Murder, She Wrote: The Fine Art of Murder

Author: Jessica Fletcher
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101544627
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 202

Book Description
FRAMED? Jessica’s art-viewing Italian vacation is interrupted by a pair of gunmen who steal a painting and kill a retired police officer in the process. Agreeing to help identify the crooks should they be caught, Jessica returns to Cabot Cove and puts the shocking experience behind her. Months later, Wayne Simsbury, the stepson of an old friend, comes to her for help. Wayne’s father has been shot to death. Not only has Wayne’s stepmother, Marlise, been charged with the murder, but Wayne himself claims to have witnessed the crime. Unsure what to do, he has sought out Jessica—the one person his stepmother had always claimed could help with any problem. Now, on top of a seemingly open-and-shut murder case to crack in Chicago, Jessica finds herself back in Italy helping the police make their case against the art thieves—and she faces a looming danger that may connect the Italian killers to the fate of her old friend....

ArtCurious

Author: Jennifer Dasal
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143134590
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Book Description
A wildly entertaining and surprisingly educational dive into art history as you've never seen it before, from the host of the beloved ArtCurious podcast We're all familiar with the works of Claude Monet, thanks in no small part to the ubiquitous reproductions of his water lilies on umbrellas, handbags, scarves, and dorm-room posters. But did you also know that Monet and his cohort were trailblazing rebels whose works were originally deemed unbelievably ugly and vulgar? And while you probably know the tale of Vincent van Gogh's suicide, you may not be aware that there's pretty compelling evidence that the artist didn't die by his own hand but was accidentally killed--or even murdered. Or how about the fact that one of Andy Warhol's most enduring legacies involves Caroline Kennedy's moldy birthday cake and a collection of toenail clippings? ArtCurious is a colorful look at the world of art history, revealing some of the strangest, funniest, and most fascinating stories behind the world's great artists and masterpieces. Through these and other incredible, weird, and wonderful tales, ArtCurious presents an engaging look at why art history is, and continues to be, a riveting and relevant world to explore.

A Brush with Murder

Author: Bailee Abbott
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
ISBN: 1643857754
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 287

Book Description
A quiet lakeside town in western New York state is the new home of Manhattan artist Chloe Abbington and the backdrop for murder in this series debut by Bailee Abbott. For Chloe Abbington, the transition from fine art painter in New York City to painting-event business owner in charming Whisper Cove is more than a little jarring. But when poison-pen journalist Fiona Gimble writes a viciously negative review of the newly opened Paint with a View, Chloe learns that critics are the same everywhere. And when she finds Fiona's body behind her shop with a painting knife in her neck, Chloe realizes that this picture-perfect town offers anything but peace and quiet. Suddenly, bustling Artisan Alley is a crime scene, and Chloe is the prime suspect. Her sister and business partner, Izzie, isn't much help--she's busy running the shop, and besides, she has secrets of her own. As shrewd Detective Barrett tries to paint her into a corner, Chloe soon finds that Fiona had plenty of enemies. The Whisper Cove Gazette columnist wielded her pen like a sword, slicing and dicing just about every shop owner in the lakeside town. With the help of her affectionate canine buddy, Max, Chloe sets out to prove that she's been framed for Fiona's murder. But she'd better learn the fine art of detection quickly, before the real killer paints the town red again. Otherwise, she may end up trading in her paint smock for an orange jumpsuit...or a green burial plot.

The Art of the English Murder

Author: Lucy Worsley
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1605987190
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 215

Book Description
Murder—a dark, shameful deed, the last resort of the desperate or a vile tool of the greedy. And a very strange obsession. But where did this fixation develop? And what does it tell us about ourselves?Our fascination with crimes like these became a form of national entertainment, inspiring novels and plays, prose and paintings, poetry and true-crime journalism. At a point during the birth of the modern era, murder entered the popular psyche, and it’s been a part of us ever since.The Art of the English Murder is a unique exploration of the art of crime—and a riveting investigation into the English criminal soul by one of our finest historians.

Red Handed

Author: Matt Kindt
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 159643662X
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
Detective Gould has yet to meet the crime he can't solve, but lately there has been a rash of crimes so eccentric and random that even Gould is stumped. The compulsive chair thief, the novelist who uses purloined street signs to write her magnum opuis, and the photgrapher who secretly documents peoples' most anguished personal moments -- what can they possibly have in common? Can Detective Gould untangle the strange crimes of Red Wheelbarrow or will he finally meet his match in a shadowy criminal conspiracy aimed at discrediting the very idea of criminal justice?

Inspector of the Dead

Author: David Morrell
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1444781367
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 506

Book Description
The year is 1855. The Crimean war is raging. The British government has fallen. The Empire itself hangs in the balance. And then the murders start... Someone is targeting members of London's elite - leaving with each corpse the names of men who failed to assassinate Queen Victoria. It's clear that Victoria will be the ultimate victim. As the notorious Opium-Eater Thomas De Quincey and his daughter Emily race to save her, they uncover the heart-breaking past of a man whose lust for revenge has destroyed his soul. Based on actual attempts to assassinate the queen, Inspector of the Dead brilliantly merges fact with fiction, bringing a bloody chapter of Victorian England to vivid, pulse-pounding life.

The Death Artist

Author: Jonathan Santlofer
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061744700
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 452

Book Description
The debut novel from the author of The Lost Van Gogh—first in the Kate McKinnon series. “A unique spin on the too-familiar serial killer thriller.” —Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel A killer is preying on New York’s art community, creating gruesome depictions of famous paintings, using human flesh and blood as his media. Terror stalks this world of genius, greed, inspiration, and jealousy—a world Kate McKinnon knows all too well. A former NYPD cop who traded in her badge for a PhD in art history, Kate can see the method behind the psychopath’s madness—for the grisly slaughter of a former protégé is drawing her into the predator’s path. And as each new murder exceeds the last in savagery, Kate is trapped in the twisted obsessions of the death artist, who plans to use her body, her blood, and her fear to create the ultimate masterpiece. “The Death Artist is stylish, scary, and very, very smart. Jonathan Santlofer’s thriller really thrills.” —Susan Isaacs, New York Times–bestselling author “Chilling.” —USA Today “A roller coaster of violence [and] betrayal.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer “Brisk . . . inventive . . . compelling.” —The Washington Post Book World “The exploration of the psychology of the death artist, along with gossipy insights into the politics of art, make this book a bloody funfest.” —Publishers Weekly