Tangled Web UK Review August 2003
The American Boy by
Andrew Taylor
pbk out February 08
(Harper Perennial)
at £7.99
After his success in being awarded the CWA's Ellis Peters Historical Dagger for his
last entry in the Roth Trilogy, Andrew Taylor has returned to days gone by and
written a stand-alone novel set in nineteenth century London and Gloucestershire. The
boy of the title is none other than Edgar Allan Poe, creator of the detective story, and
although Poe has appeared on numerous occasions in the crime fiction of his
successors, this may well be the finest book to feature him. For all that, though, young
Edgar plays a relatively peripheral role in this story, which also features his natural
father, David Poe. The tale is told by a young man called Thomas Shield. He takes up
an appointment as usher at a school and becomes embroiled in a pleasingly twisty
mystery. Although the pace of the narrative, especially in the Gloucestershire
chapters, is scarcely breakneck, the elegance of the writing and the subtlety of the plot
deserve admiration. Taylor fans will enjoy the incidental pleasure of brief nods in the
narrative to his series about Lydmouth and Roth, while those who are new to this
author will undoubtedly be impressed by his authorial command. This is a splendidly
entertaining novel and it would be a thoroughly worthy choice for the CWA Gold
Dagger shortlist.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
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