Michael Cox, The Meaning of Night: A Confession

The Meaning of Night: A Confession

Michael Cox

Norton, September 2006, $25.95

ISBN: 0393062031

In 1854 London, Edward Glyver knows he needs to train before he conducts his assassination of Phoebus Daunt, the man who destroyed his life, starting with the humiliation of being ejected from school to where he is at now, as a loser in a law factotum. To insure success, Edward kills the red-haired stranger before dining on oyster and pondering how easy the homicide was.

However, his moment of euphoria turns ugly when he thinks of what Daunt has done to him, and that he recently learned of his rightful inheritance stolen from him. He feels strongly that once Daunt is dead, he will gain all that he deserves, starting with his inheritance, societal accolades and the lovely Emily Carteret. Yet somehow, someone has seen his rehearsal. E.G. knows he must dispose of this insidious individual trying to take the little he owns and slowing down his quest to murder his real adversary.

This is a fascinating "confession" told for the most part by the seemingly deranged E.G. The storyline grips the audience from the onset, when the lead character nonchalantly confesses that he has just killed a man for purposes of practice so that the reader senses how insane E.G. really is. The storyline never falters until the anticipated confrontation that will turn readers into fans of Michael Cox. Readers who want something different in their historical thrillers will need to read Mr. Cox's eerie biographical Victorian first hand account of a maniac on the loose in London.