1855 and England suffers its first railway murder. On that train are Thomas de Quincey and his daughter Emily. They try to preserve the crime scene while waiting for the friends and detectives Ryan and Becker to arrive. But soon there are more railway accidents. Is there a connection and what could be the motives.
A well-written and well plotted Victorian Mystery, a good finish to the trilogy with its cast of likeable and rounded characters. ( )

After having read Thomas De Quincey's famous “Confessions of an English Opium Eater” (1821) a couple of months back, I am amazed that David Morrell was able to use it as a springboard for an excellent historical mystery, let alone a whole series of them. Yet “Ruler of the Night” (2016) makes fine reading, while solving, even if in fiction, some mysteries left hanging by De Quincey's memoir.

De Quincey himself is the hero of Morrell's series (which began with “Murder as a Fine Art”), and like the real De Quincey, he tends to spend most of his money on two things, opium to feed his habit and books to feed his mind. There is little money left to pay his rent, and so eventually he must move on, usually leaving a flat full of books behind. Now a former landlord has threatened to sell his books to cover back rent, and De Quincey, along with his lovely daughter, Emily, takes a train to try to rescue those books. On the train, however, a bloody murder occurs, and De Quincey, with his talent for solving mysteries, becomes involved.

At the heart of the mystery he finds a wealthy woman, Carolyn, whom De Quincey knew as an impoverished street girl years before. He has always wondered what happened to her, and in this novel he finds out.

Other real people play roles in this story, including Queen Victoria and Lord Palmerston, the prime minister. Morrell, in fact, works hard to make his historical novel historically consistent, such as by making the hydropathy craze of that period central to the plot. Yet this is still fiction, and most of the key characters are entirely fictional. These include two Scotland Yard detectives, Ryan and Becker, whom De Quincey assists in getting to the bottom of the murder mystery, although exactly who is assisting whom is another question. Both detectives are in love with De Quincey's daughter, adding to the tension, or at least to the addictive pleasure of this story and the series as a whole. ( )

When a prominent lawyer is murdered on a train in 1850s England, masses of people who are already frightened of train travel determine to stay away from the railways. Not Thomas de Quincey and his daughter Emily, however; they happened to have been in the cabin next to the one in which the lawyer was murdered, and because of that, they feel compelled to try to solve the case. Their investigation leads to much more than they expected, however, including Thomas’s discovery of an old friend he thought long lost…. This is the third novel in David Morrell’s Opium Eater series. I enjoy historical mysteries and this series is a very good example of the genre, in that it’s very well researched and full of details about ordinary life during the reign of Victoria. It isn’t necessary to have read the previous two novels to enjoy this one, but of course the characters are richer if you know more of their backgrounds. Recommended. ( )

The only thing I don't like about this series is there are always multiple things going on and then at the end you find out they are all somehow related. This book was difficult to get into and it wasn't until the last half that I was really interested. I do love the characters though and I would read many more of these for them alone. ( )

This is the last book in Morrell's historical fiction trilogy about British writer Thomas De Quincey, and his daughter Emily. I loved both earlier novels (Murder as a Fine Art and Inspector of the Dead) and this final book was a perfect conclusion.

Morrell explores the first murder on a steam train, an event that I hadn't really considered but obviously, there's a first for everything. And this is a pretty juicy first to explore. Morrell takes many of the real life details of the murder and weaves it into a larger, complicated plot full of peers and the made-their-fortunes-from-trade comer-uppers. The country is gripped in a panic that railway travel isn't safe, and there's pressure on De Quincey and the police to figure things out -- without revealing too many secrets of the rich and powerful.

As with the previous two novels, I was really there for Emily -- and the resolution of her so-far-not-romantic-but-clearly-romantic-interest triangle with police detectives Joseph Becker and Sean Ryan. (That might sound tortured but it's actually lovely -- she has chemistry and connection with both men, and both men respect her and each other, and there's really no triangle, just a kind of uneasiness as everyone realizes they like each other but they're not the kind of folks to do a triad so someone's going to be heartbroken. Honestly, it sounds messy but it's really just emotional and tender and subtle and mature, and frankly, a relief to watch unfold.)

While I'm bummed to say goodbye to Emily and company, I'm also delighted to have some neat resolution for these characters rather than have the series rattle on into predictability. If you like atmospheric reads, intriguing murder mysteries, and a hero struggling with addiction, pick up these three books -- they're among my favorite reads since I've started blogging! ( )