interweaving real and fictional elements the american boy is a major new literary historical crime novel in the tradition of an instance of the fingerpost and possession england 1819 thomas shield a new master at a school just outside london is tutor to a young american boy and the boys sensitive best friend charles frant drawn to frants beautiful unhappy mother thomas becomes caught up in her familys twisted intrigues then a brutal crime is committed with consequences that threaten to destroy thomas and all that he has come to hold dear despite his efforts shield is caught up in a deadly tangle of sex money murder and lies a tangle that grips him tighter even as he tries to escape from it and what of the strange american child at the heart of these macabre events yet mysterious what is the secret of the boy named edgar allen poe