Ruth McKee wrote in
The Irish Times: "a deliciously intellectual, ambitious book that explores time, metaphysics, narrative and pretty much everything, all at once." The
Financial Times described ''Beethoven's Assassins
as "an ambitious, entertaining novel full of comic brio", concluding, "Beethoven’s Assassins'' is impeccably ambitious, reliably entertaining and a little over the top."
The Scotsman called it "a brilliantly well-informed 200-year history of philosophy, science, music and mysticism, touched with an edge of
Da Vinci Code hocus pocus," and remarked on "the sheer fun and narrative energy of Crumey’s writing, the skill and insight with which he conjures up each of his narrators from the repellent to the poignant, and the huge ingenuity with which he interweaves their stories."
The Herald (Glasgow) commented, "''Beethoven's Assassins
may be a gloriously multi-faceted puzzle-box of a novel, but even those anticipating a dense, abstruse intellectual exercise of interest only to literary theorists will find themselves drawn in by its well-drawn characters and emotional weight... Beethoven's Assassins'' is that refreshing thing, a novel of ideas with all the intrigue and momentum (and occasional
red herring) of an absorbing mystery, underscored by a dark, ironic sense of humour."
Paul Griffiths wrote in
Literary Review, "Crumey gives each of his chapters its own period and central character, and flips from one to another with the dexterity and humour of a champion juggler. Matters of art, science and philosophy are deftly discussed and sometimes linked to each other within the narrative."
The Spectator judged ''Beethoven's Assassins'' "great cerebral fun, with its quantum physics, telepathy, time travel and fraying of fact and fiction. But all this is its own misdirection... The writing here about the soul-grinding nature of the bureaucracy surrounding illness and death is chillingly good. The questions the novel poses about science and aesthetics (is
Einstein as good as
Beethoven?) pale in comparison to the rawness of the loss it depicts with the same scrutiny as an equation or a late quartet." The
Historical Novel Society said, "This is a book to appeal to readers who enjoy time-travel, mystery, illusion – and no clear-cut answers."
The Crack said, "''Beethoven's Assassins'' is a huge knickerbocker glory of a novel that weaves together history, art, science, music, and more. Philosophical, but funny with it." ==Connections with other books by Crumey==