The Meaning of Night - Michael Cox

Historical whodunnit, but hard going.

Set in Victorian England, the main character Edward Glyver carries out a random murder in one of the back alleyways of London and the rest of the novel explains why. En route we discover that he believes he's entitled to inherit one of England's great estates, that he's an amoral, shallow, self-centred opium addict and that his mother worked herself into an early grave for his sake.

Even the denouement didn't make me feel it was worth the preceding 600 pages, although the story does pick up towards the end.

Amazon.co.uk link: The Meaning of Night - Michael Cox