Publishers Weekly
08/10/2020
Set in December 1835, Redmond’s workmanlike third Charles Dickens mystery (after 2019’s Grave Expectations) takes Charles, at that time a journalist, to Hertfordshire, where he encounters a woman who claims that her late sister identified Charles as her baby’s father, and insists he assume the infant’s care. Charles returns with little Timothy to London, where he lodges the boy with friends. The next evening, Charles and his fiancée, Kate Hogarth, are caroling when an elderly man with iron chains around his neck falls to his death from a second-story window. The corpse is Jacob Harley, a moneylender who lived with his business partner, Emmanuel Screws. As Charles seeks to find Timothy’s real father, he investigates Harley’s illegitimate son, the owner of the company that made the chains, and the partners’ mysterious American employee. The heavy-handed links to A Christmas Carol feel superfluous, though Redmond nicely blends period details into the storytelling. Cozy fans should enjoy this seasonal fare. Agent: Laurie McLean, Foreword Literary. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Praise for A Dickens of a Crime Mystery series
“Mystery fans and history buffs alike should cheer.”
—Kirkus, STARRED Review
“One of the most satisfying mysteries you will read this year.”
—Suspense Magazine on Grave Expectations
“A complex and highly satisfying mystery. Redmond weaves Dickensian themes—wealth and poverty, love and rejection—seamlessly throughout the story while evoking a Victorian era that feels immediate and alive. Fans of Anne Perry will love this one.”
—Dianne Freeman, author of the Countess of Harleigh Mysteries
“Meticulous attention to historical details and the known elements of Dickens's life . . . a complex mystery that cunningly explores how Dickens might have been inspired to write the plot of his most well-known book . . . Sharp, incisive, and delightfully twisty. I'm sure I won't be the only reader exclaiming, ‘What the Dickens?!’”
—Anna Lee Huber, bestselling author of the Lady Darby Mysteries
“For Dickens fans this charming little puzzler will prove a delight.”
—Booklist
“One suspects that Mr. Dickens himself would thoroughly enjoy this literary play on his early life and sleuthing abilities. Great fun to read!”
—Catherine Lloyd, author of the Kurland St. Mary Mysteries
“A Tale of Two Murders is an all-over twisty read and a Dickens of a good mystery!”
—Julie Mulhern, USA Today bestselling author of The Country Club Murders
Kirkus Reviews
2020-07-01
A third return to 1835 London sets two problems for parliamentary reporter Charles Dickens: unmasking a murderer, and clearing himself of an accusation that could put paid to his career and his impending marriage.
Nothing says Christmas like caroling outside the countinghouse of Emmanuel Screws, and nothing dampens the Christmas spirit like having a chained corpse fall from an overhead window to the ground before the eyes of Charles and his horrified fellow carolers. Soon after the killjoy is identified as Jacob Harley, Screws’ partner, his body inside its coffin vanishes from the custody of the undertaker Dawes. But that’s the least of Charles’ headaches. He’s already scrambling to disprove the allegation of serving maid Madge Porter that he fathered Timothy, the son of Madge’s late sister, Lizzie. Moved by the holiday spirit and simple humanity, Charles has taken up the infant and placed him with pregnant actress Julie Aga, the wife of his fellow journalist William Aga. His solicitude for the defenseless child is a distinctly bad look for his fiancee, Kate Hogarth, and a worse one for her father, George, who, as editor of the Morning Chronicle, holds a great deal of power over his employee’s future. When the prospective publisher of Sketches by Boz begins to back away from his contract, it seems the only thing that will redeem Dickens is proof that he’s not Timothy’s father. Oh, and solving what by now is a pair of murders as well.
A middling mystery seasoned with period detail and toothless threats to the future success of Charles Dickens.
