Top 10 Victorian detective stories

James McCreet is the author of The Incendiary's Trail, a Victorian detective thriller influenced by the early works of Edgar Allan Poe and drawing on detailed historical research.

For the Guardian, he named a top ten list of Victorian detective stories. One title on the list:

On Murder by Thomas de Quincey

The old opium eater's series of articles about the real-life Ratcliff Highway murders pre-dated Poe and arguably have a claim to be the true origin of detective fiction. The Postscript in particular is a thrilling literary reconstruction of how the murders were committed, tracing how "the silent hieroglyphics of the case betray to us the whole process and movements of the bloody drama".

Read about the other stories on McCreet's list.

On Murder is also one of Theodore Dalrymple's favorite books on the criminal mind.

Visit James McCreet's website.

--Marshal Zeringue