This image is the cover for the book Ability to Kill

Ability to Kill

The renowned thriller author turns his attention to true crime—while also taking shots at spies, Hollywood writers, and other subjects—in this collection of essays.

Known for timeless thrillers including Epitaph for a Spy and Journey into Fear, Eric Ambler was a keen observer of rogues and rule-breakers of all kinds. In The Ability to Kill, he delves into some of the most intriguing and disturbing criminal cases of the last few hundred years. These include nineteenth-century Edinburgh’s Burke and Hare, who supplied a medical school with ill-gotten cadavers; Victorian London’s infamous Jack the Ripper; the Frenchman Henri Désiré Landru, an early twentieth-century serial killer; and the Californian doctor Bernard Finch and his lover Carole Tregoff, who conspired to murder his wife in 1961.

Rounding out the collection are a few pieces on lighter topics such as spies and how to spot them, and novelists in Hollywood. Though his subjects are often grim, Ambler’s deft touch makes this examination of homicide and other matters a pure pleasure to read.

Eric Ambler

Eric Ambler began his writing career in the early 1930s and quickly established a reputation as a thriller writer of extraordinary depth and originality. He is often credited as the inventor of the modern political thriller and John Le Carré once described him as “the source on which we all draw.”

Ambler began his working life at an engineering firm and then as a copywriter at an advertising agency. In his spare time, he worked toward his dream of becoming a playwright. His first novel was published in 1936, he turned to writing full-time. During the war, he was seconded to the Army Film Unit where he wrote the screenplay for The Way Ahead with Peter Ustinov, among others.

Agora Books