First published 2016
Thomas De Quincey has finally begun to master his opium dependency when a shocking crime threatens to destroy his fragile recovery. Traveling home to the Lake District with his family, De Quincey becomes an accidental witness to an unprecedented killing aboard one of England's brand new railway cars. The murder marks a grim milestone in the Victorian age of steam and steel. The railways have transformed the English landscape and created new possibilities for both commerce and crime. As the killer flees using the very rail network that enabled the murder, De Quincey finds himself drawn into a relentless pursuit across the countryside. The chase becomes a deadly game between hunter and prey, played out against the backdrop of a rapidly changing nation. What begins as a single act of violence soon reveals connections that stretch throughout English society. De Quincey must navigate both the external dangers of his investigation and the internal battle against his addiction as the case pushes him toward the edge of sanity.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, crime, thriller, detective, 19th-century
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: cat-and-mouse, detective-story, redemption
Setting: England, Lake District
Period: Victorian Era
342 pages · Hardcover · Mulholland Books
Content warnings: addiction, violence