On Murder Considered as one of the Fine Arts

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... -Thomas De QuincyIn On Murder Considered as one of the Fine Arts (1827) Thomas De Quincy used a series of murders allegedly committed in London in 1811 by John Williams as the centerpiece of a satirical essay that whimsically discusses the aesthetics of murder. In this commentary De Quincy uses black humor to make a tongue-in-cheek statement about the impact of crime. His writing had a remarkable impact on crime terror and detective fiction and was praised by critics like G. K. Chesterton and George Orwell.