A Tale of Two Murders

Starred review from May 15, 2018
A ghastly poisoning sets a young writer on the trail of a killer in Victorian London.January 1835 finds rising journalist Charles Dickens enjoying Epiphany dinner with his editor, George Hogarth, and his family in Brompton when a terrible scream splits the air. Dickens, Hogarth, and Hogarth's daughter Kate rush next door to Lugoson House. There, Lady Lugoson's daughter, Christiana, who's been taken violently ill, dies before her mother's horrified eyes despite the ministrations of the host of doctors summoned to her bedside. The next day, at the offices of the Evening Chronicle, Charles confides his unease to fellow journalist William Aga. How could Christiana Lugoson have become mortally ill when none of the other dinner guests were affected? William recalls the similar death of another young woman, Marie Rueff, just one year ago at Epiphany. Watching young Charles sniff out the connection between the two deaths is only part of the fun. Readers can also watch the sweet, unsurprising romance between Charles and Kate unfold at a modest but steady pace and can travel through a historical London that's vivid without being overcrowded with detail. Each character's voice is distinctive and appropriate to the period, and Redmond's exposition is as stately and lucid as any contemporary reader could wish.Redmond, who writes romance under the names Heather Hiestand and Anh Leod, adds crime to her portfolio. Mystery fans and history buffs alike should cheer.

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June 4, 2018
Set in 1835, this languid series launch from Redmond (the Redcakes series) turns Charles Dickens, then a journalist for the Evening Chronicle, into a detective with mixed results. A dinner at the home of his editor, George Hogarth, is interrupted by a scream from a neighboring house, where Dickens and George’s fetching daughter, Kate, find that 17-year-old Christiana Lugoson has suffered a collapse that will soon prove fatal. When the reporter learns that 17-year-old Marie Rueff died under similar circumstances exactly a year earlier, he suspects foul play and investigates the possibility that both were poisoned. His unimpressive probing, aided by Kate, yields multiple suspects with motives including hatred and greed. Redmond’s opening line (“‘Epiphany is truly the best of times,’ Charles Dickens exclaimed”) sets the tone, and she makes sporadic efforts to evoke Dickens’s style throughout. Readers interested in fictional depictions of Dickens that insert him into a mystery plot will be better served by such books by Dan Simmons and William Palmer. Agent: Laurie McLean, Foreword Literary.

July 1, 2018

The ambitious young journalist Charles Dickens is at dinner with the Hogarths, his editor's family, when they hear women screaming. Dickens, Hogarth, and the eldest Hogarth daughter Kate rush next door where a widow lives with her two children. There, they find Christiana Lugoson sick. The young woman dies within 24 hours. Although the death of a 17-year-old seems unusual, it's only when another journalist mentions a similar death exactly a year earlier that Dickens suspects murder. With his editor's permission, he makes inquiries while he and Kate use the investigation as an excuse to spend time together. Redmond, author of the "Redcakes" Victorian romance series (The Marquess of Cakes) emphasizes Dickens's courtship with his future wife in this first book in a new historical series. The mystery itself is convoluted, but the details of the author's life and the Victorian world stand out in a book that drags at times. VERDICT Dickens fans will appreciate the foreshadowing of future writings and the warm family environment at the Hogarth household. Readers who enjoy the historical details in Anne Perry's Victorian mysteries may want to try this series debut.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

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