Press

What the critics say

Meticulously plotted and written with bouncy confidence... A rattling good yarn
- Spectator

Derby Day is a triumphant success...in this unputdownable Victorian romp [Taylor] enjoyably proves himself to be one of the finest of our 21st-century novelists
- Financial Times

The novel is richly redolent of the novels of Wilkie Collins, Dickens and Thackeray... The characters who plot and squirm throughout the course of Derby Day are fully rounded and memorably drawn and the atmosphere is palpable. In fact here is an intelligent novel which is also a genuine page-turner. Truly a terrific read
- Daily Express

Rich and gorgeous as a plum cake, this is absorbing entertainment indeed
- The Times

Taylor, with patient stealth, assembles a ring of enjoyably seedy or unprepossessing figures...What distinguishes it from generic thriller-writing is the author's knowledge of the period
- Times Literary Supplement

Taylor has written an exceptionally clever pastiche 19th-century novel with a richness of character that almost matches his models of Dickens and Thackeray
- Sunday Times

Derby Day is pitch-perfect... It's enormous fun and meticulously researched and conceived
- Guardian

Taylor's great skill is in characterisation... In this accomplished work [he] has effectively captured the mutable nature of this unsettling period
- Literary Review

Enjoyable, intelligent and thoroughly entertaining... Highly recommended
- Thebookbag

[Taylor's] prose is note-perfect and seems completely natural...Better still, he never forgets the 'mystery' part of that promise on the cover. As the great race approaches, the many strands of the story come together in a way that's wholly satisfying and exciting
- Daily Mail

Taylor wears his research lightly but there is no doubt how much effort he has expended... The whole is an engaging drama - escapism of the highest standard
- Independent on Sunday

Taylor manages to successfully pastiche a 19th-century mystery novel with this fast paced, enjoyable read
- The Times

This is a book to read by the fireside, to be swept along in, to realise - with a start - that hours have gone by...In other words, to rediscover the lost-in-another-world joy of reading. And this book really IS a joy...my favourite book of the year so far
- Eastern Daily Press

A delicious, highly intelligent page-turner... With clever, confident plotting and meticulous period details, this is an engrossing and deeply satisfying read
- Good book Guide

As you would expect from somebody steeped in Victorian fictional history, Taylor rarely puts a foot wrong...the colourful events which take place on the Downs should delight any racing enthusiast
- Racing Post

Taylor’s love and understanding of Victorian melodrama is put to good use in this tangibly detailed and deliciously written pastiche centred on an Epsom Derby swindle
- Sunday Telegraph

This is a fictional world in which daughters are ready to bump off their fathers, husbands to exploit their wives, and everyone is happy to chance their assets on the wheel of fortune. It’s a novel that will keep you gripped until the very last furlong
- Independent

It is a detective story as gripping as the Victorian novels that inspired it, and is written with narrative flair and a terrific sense of fun
- Daily Telegraph

Derby Day will be hard to put down... As ever with Taylor, literary complexities lurk under the smooth surface of a stylish page-turner
- Conde Nast Traveller