On the Edge of Darkness

Was the killer inspired by murders committed decades ago?

The hero of David Morrell's book, English romantic novelist Thomas de Quincey, will describe in his essay a murder committed decades ago in such detail that the police don't believe him, that he's not the perpetrator of the murders, that happened last night.
The English Romantic philosopher and essayist, author of the famous book Confessions of an English Opium Drinker, Thomas de Quincey delighted in describing not only states of deluded consciousness, but also monstrous crimes - bloody murders depicted in gruesome detail. Two centuries later, de Quincey becomes the protagonist of David Morrell's book, which goes back to the mid-19th century, when de Quincey's essay Murder as a Beautiful Art was published, describing brutal murders, that were committed forty-three years ago, and yet they were depicted so vividly, as if the author were present in person. Indeed, at the time of the book's publication, there were several more murders that seemed to replicate de Quincey's account. The police suspect the writer of being the perpetrator of the crimes in order to boost sales.De Quincey and his daughter Emily must hurry to uncover the real killer so that no more blood is spilled.