The Last Dickens

The author of THE DANTE CLUB dazzles with this mystery about the publication of Charles Dickens's last work, THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, which arrives in America in serial form, until the last installment goes missing. On the eve of Dickens's death, publisher James Osgood finds himself on a trail of murder and depravity, including involvement with the opium trade, in his quest to secure the lost ending. From Osgood's point of view, Paul Michael methodically recreates the atmosphere of the period and recounts details of Dickens's vast popularity in the U.S., then shifts timbre and expression for colorful portrayals of the other characters. Much more is involved than merely discovering DROOD's ending. This well-researched story unfolds with action-packed suspense, haunting imagery, romance, and exotic travel. A.W. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

January 12, 2009
Bestseller Pearl (The Poe Shadow
) delivers a period thriller that has the misfortune to fall short of the high standard set by Dan Simmons's Drood
(Reviews, Nov. 24), which also centers on Charles Dickens's final, unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
. After the author dies in 1870, a series of suspicious deaths leads Dickens's U.S. publisher, James Osgood, to suspect they may be connected with the solution to the novel's puzzle. Accompanied by attractive bookkeeper Rebecca Sand, the sister of one of the victims, Osgood travels from Boston to England to seek clues to Drood
's missing conclusion. The action shifts to India, where Charles's son Francis is a superintendent of the Bengal Mounted Police, and back in time, to the novelist's last American tour in 1867. Some awkward prose distracts (“There were several other grim faces at dinner that, like some imperceptible force, spread a dark cloud over the levity”), while the ending may strike some readers as a cop-out.