'A novel of fate and free will, forensic detection and blind love, crime and its justifications. The atmosphere crackles, but beneath all is a sly sense of humour. The plotting is second to none – a finely tuned yet extravagantly complex piece of clockwork' Evening Standard

'An unadulterated pleasure . . . In prose as flamboyant as a bespoke smoking jacket, Cox’s metropolis comes to life, teeming with hearty whores and weasilly clerks . . . Cox skilfully brings a modern sensibility to his 19th-century opus . . . Cox’s epic is as thrilling as a hansom-cab chase and as guilty a pleasure as a nocturnal turn at a gentleman’s "introducing house" ' Independent on Sunday

'A handsome slice of Victoriana . . . a rewarding, sinister yarn wrapped around an austere meditation on fate, faith and privilege' Observer

'Worth staying up all night for . . . a gripping adventure story about a man’s thirst for revenge . . . extraordinary because its literary influences are not only obvious, but integral . . . This is serious literary fan-fiction. Any adult who has secretly enjoyed Harry Potter will love this book' The Times

'It has been hard to ignore the proliferation of pseudo-Victorian novels following the success of Sarah Waters. Many have been of indifferent quality, but Michael Cox’s debut is an excellent addition to the genre. It is a tale of obsession, love and revenge, played out amid London’s swirling smog . . . Glyver is an outstanding creation . . . Cox lovingly recreates the atmosphere of the period, from grand dinner parties to assignations with ladies of the night . . . Yet he never allows period detail to swamp the human drama at the novel’s heart' Daily Mail

'Gripped from the start, you fly through the dazzling opening chapter, in thrall to the voice of Edward Glyver . . . Moral good expires on the rocks as the turning pages seem to accelerate. You are hooked' Scotland on Sunday

'Exhilarating descriptions of the seamier side of Victorian London . . . True culture really does nourish' Guardian

'A refreshing dedication to the classic art of storytelling, and one that should keep readers hooked on his books for years to come' Time Out

'Page-turning' GQ

'An impressively fluent first novel' Sunday Telegraph

'Like Charles Palliser, Michel Faber and Sarah Waters, Cox is making the Victorian era a switchback ride for the reader’s mind . . . a rich and complicated tale . . . a journey into darkness' Independent

'A gripping page-turner for a dark winter evening' Good Book Guide

'A luxurious and engaging autumn read' thelondonpaper

'A spellbinding Victorian mystery . . . dark atmospheric storytelling with wicked twists and turns' Good Housekeeping

'An enthralling journey into the depths of Victorian London and the psyche of a man obsessed. Michael Cox’s The Meaning of Night will have you hooked from [the] stunning opening line to the thrilling final revelation' InStyle

'The novel has many attractions including its nicely twisted narrator and some of that gothic mystery appeal that helped to make The Shadow of the Wind such a hit' Bookseller