A wonderful book, richly composed and beautifully written, an enthralling read from start to finish’ The Times

England 1819: Thomas Shield, a new master at a school just outside London, is tutor to a young American boy and the boy’s sensitive best friend, Charles Frant. Drawn to Frant’s beautiful, unhappy mother, Thomas becomes caught up in her family’s twisted intrigues.

Then a brutal crime is committed, with consequences that threaten to destroy Thomas and all that he has come to hold dear. Despite his efforts, Shield is caught up in a deadly tangle of sex, money, murder and lies – a tangle that grips him tighter even as he tries to escape from it. And what of the strange American child at the heart of these macabre events – what is the secret of the boy names Edgar Allan Poe?

‘Hugely entertaining. Its beguiling story and atmospheric evocation of Regency London and the winter landscapes of Gloucestershire cry out for a wingback chair by a blazing fire’ Observer (Books of the Year)

‘A most artful and delightful book, that will both amuse and chill, and it will have you desperate to search out a quiet corner to continue your acquaintance with it’ Daily Telegraph (Books of the Year)

Reviews

Praise for The American Boy:

'In the end, the myriad mysteries of The American Boy are all neatly accounted for, as one would expect from a thriller writer such as Taylor. But he has transcended any limitations of genre in this novel, for it is a wonderful book, richly composed and beautifully written, an enthralling read from start to finish' The Times

'Creates an atmosphere close to Sarah Waters' Fingersmith in the convincing depiction of a sadistic underworld. Taylor's deeply absorbing and beautifully written book is a fitting tribute to the founding father of crime fiction' Independent

'A most artful and delightful book, that will both amuse and chill, and it will have you desperate to search out a quiet corner to continue your acquaintance with it' Daily Telegraph

'Taylor spins a magnificent tangential web… The book is full of sharply-etched details evoking Dickensian London and is also a love story, shot through with the pain of a penniless and despised lover. This novel has the literary values which should take it to the top of the lists' Scotland on Sunday'

'It is as if Taylor has used the great master of the bizarre as both starting- and finishing- point, but in between created a period piece with its own unique voice.The result should satisfy those drawn to the fictions of the 19th century, or Poe, or indeed to crime writing at its most creative' Spectator

‘Like Poe’s fiction,Taylor’s beguiling story and atmospheric evocation of Regency London and the winter landscapes of Gloucestershire cry out for a wingback chair by a blazing chair. Hugely entertaining' Observer