Taylor, A: American Boy

The Number One bestseller and award-winning Richard & Judy Book Club pick. An atmospheric and deeply absorbing literary historical crime classic - featured in The Times `Top Ten Crime Novels of the Decade'.

Andrew Taylor is the author of a number of novels, including the Dougal and Lydmouth crime series, the psychological thrillers Bleeding Heart Square and The Anatomy of Ghosts, the ground-breaking Roth Trilogy, which was adapted into the acclaimed drama Fallen Angel, and The American Boy, his No. 1 bestselling historical novel which was a 2005 Richard & Judy Book Club choice. He has won many awards, including the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger, an Edgar Scroll from the Mystery Writers of America, the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award (the only author to win it twice) and the CWA's prestigious Diamond Dagger, awarded for sustained excellence in crime writing. He also writes for the Spectator. He lives with his wife Caroline in the Forest of Dean.

'Andrew Taylor is arguably the most consummate writer of historical fiction today. He achieves to perfection the crucial balance between the mystery to be solved and the historical context surrounding it. A mesmeric read' The Times 'An absorbing and harrowing epic historical detective novel ... Taylor is as good at this period as C. J. Sansom is at Tudor England, and like him pulls off novels that work both as literary fiction and detective stories' Independent 'Andrew Taylor has been producing superb historical fiction since long before Hilary Mantel's Man Booker wins bestowed literary respectability on the genre' Daily Telegraph 'Taylor once again shows how skilful a historical novelist he is' The Sunday Times