Extremely well-researched -- she didn't just read about the once-popular puppet shows featuring murderers, she actually tried out the puppets! -- but wears its erudition lightly. Makes an original argument that true crime and crime fiction influenced each other as twinned types of popular entertainment in 19th and early 20th century England. She unapologetically holds Dorothy Sayers up as the epitome of British crime fiction -- without making any attempt to sugarcoat the author's many flaws as a human being -- and I think that gives you quite an accurate idea of Worsley's bluestocking Oxbridge charms.

This book had some interesting parts worth exploring, and Worsley is always fun. Yet despite this, it felt more like it was just skimming the surface, and never quite delivering on its full potential. Still, it was a serviceable introduction to a macabre subject.

A fun read for lovers of British mysteries. The book came out of a BBC special, which would have been interesting to see. The subtitle of the book sums itsup - "The curious story of how crime was turned into art" Worsely weaves in the various influences of the last 200 years- fewer hangings, improved literacy, development of a police force, increased urbanization (so less village survellance) as she describes the evolution of the mystery novel from the gothic novels of the Georgian period, thru to the 'Golden Age' of Christie and Sayers. She wraps up at the end of the Second World War and the emergence of thrillers.

This was entertaining to read. I found it a bit difficult to get into, but interesting enough to continue reading. And once past the first few chapters, it was a bit more what I think I was expecting when I started the book. It was an interesting take on how what are now considered classic murder mysteries became first popular, and then classic.

The explanation of cultural changes and the rise of interest in fictional murder were interesting. If you're into classic murder mysteries, such as those by Agatha Christie or Dorothy Sayers, might find this an interesting read.

What enabled the English mystery to take over the literary world? Why has Agatha Christie been translated into so many languages? This book traces the fascination the English (and the English speaking world in general) have long had with death and the macabre. The rise of formal policing and detecting coincides with the rise of the murder mystery in a fascinating way. Highly recommend this one to fans of mysteries. (Although, fair warning: some sections of this are gruesome and horrifying.)

"The Art of the English Murder" was written as a companion to the television presentation of the same name by Lucy Worsley. I don't know if the show ran in the United States. In any case, I have not seen it. I was drawn to the book because I have enjoyed Lucy Worsley's book "If Walls Could Talk: The History of the Home". Ms. Worsley is a historian and Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces in Britain.
I was intrigued by the complete title, but I think I expected a different kind of book. It covers a period from the early 19th century to the end of World War II, which seemed a bit of an odd place to end, because of P.D. James, Elizabeth George, and other contemporary writers. But Ms. Worsley was content to end it with the Golden Age of Mysteries defined by Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers.
Much of the book, especially the first two-thirds, is really about true crimes of the period which caught the public fancy, It was a time when literacy was rising among the lower classes in Britain and the lurid details of murders became popular reading. Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins make appearances in this section. It really isn't until the chapter about Sherlock Holmes that books that might be more familiar to modern readers come under the microscope.
Ms. Worsley makes some interesting connections between crimes and literature, and she explores some of the psychological reasons that this type of reading has become so popular. But in the long run, this book falls between the two topics. It does not give enough detail to be a real psychological study of English murder and she does not cover enough literature to be satisfactory. Her short chapters on Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and Alfred Hitchcock give a hint of what might have been. Alas, a deeper analysis would have much improved my impressions of the book.

Precious few historians are fun to watch on screen in documentaries and even fewer of them can put their stories into an enjoyable book, but Lucy Worsley manages all three perfectly - another great book, never disgustingly detailed, always inclusive, fair, modern and above all, beautifully readable.

This was very interesting and I think gives a good overview of the culture/literature while also being very brief. But, it wasn’t anything too special or too incredible, so I’d recommend it to anyone interested but wouldn’t say stop what you’re doing to pick it up.