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“Lucy Worsley’s lively book…traces the growth of this industry through some
of the era’s most avidly followed killings. Her goal isn’t to provide a history
of crime or crime writing but to show how the British enjoyed and consumed the
idea of murder…A bonus of The Art of the
English Murder is Worsley’s interest in women writers, partly the grandes
dames of the 1920s and ‘30s like Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, but
also several whose work has been forgotten.”
— New York Times Book Review
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“Worsley’s book covers a great deal of ground and provides an excellent
overview of how the consumption of crime became a dominant part of our cultural
landscape.”
— Sunday Times (London)
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“Worsley captures this bloody love affair very well.”
— Independent (London)
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“Worsley retells the stories of famous murderers and legendary criminals in
delightfully readable language, with sharp, illuminating comments.”
— Literary Review (London)
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“This book is a delightful romp through the most iconic staples of Victorian life: Sherlock Holmes, Madame Tussaud’s waxworks, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I recommend reading this at night with a strong cup of tea. Just keep your lights on, and the doors locked.”
— Sun News (Miami)
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“A brief, absorbing history lesson on how the UK’s obsession with bloody
deeds changed not only methods of law enforcement but fertilized the roots of
modern popular culture.”
— Bookgasm
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“[A] lively, lucid, and wonderfully lurid history…Worsley’s study takes a
literary spin as she traces the emergence of detective fiction from its roots
in the mid-Victorian ‘sensation’ novel. She dwells at length on the genre’s ‘golden
age’…and subsequently shows how detective fiction gave way to the darker
American-style thriller of the Cold War era. Worsley’s vivid account excites as
much as its sensational subject matter, and edifies, too, thanks to her learned
explications.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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“[A]fascinating account…This riveting cultural history will enthrall fans of
British crime novels as well as readers of true crime.”
— Library Journal (starred review)
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“Readers’ initial apprehension that this might be just another list of
sensational crimes, trials, and public hangings quickly fades as the author
exhibits her exceptional knowledge of social and literary England. Her position
as chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces, which manages the Tower of London,
Kensington Palace, Kew Palace, and other significant British sites, gives her a
broad supply of informative resources. Simply put, murder was the TV of the
Victorian era, an escape from everyday woes—of which there were plenty…Worsley
ably shows how audiences drove writers, actors, and purveyors of news to
satisfy their morbid curiosities.”
— Kirkus Reviews
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Worsley's vivid account excites as much as its sensational subject matter, and edifies, too, thanks to her learned explications.
— Publishers Weekly Starred Review