A Twist of Murder
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
The acclaimed historical mystery series A Dickens of a Crime continues with a reimagining of Charles Dickens’s classic Oliver Twist, filled with murder, mystery, and a young Dickens himself as the amateur sleuth. In other words, "Please, can we have some more!"
Harrow-on-the-Hill, March 1836: In a sense, orphans Ollie, John, and Arthur have always been treasure hunters. The mudlarks have gone from a hardscrabble life scavenging the banks of the Thames for bits and bobs to becoming students at a boarding school outside of London, thanks to the kind and generous intercession of Charles Dickens. But now they’re missing—as is, apparently, a treasure map.
When Charles arrives at the school, he’s hit with another twist—the servant girl who was allegedly in possession of the map has been strangled in the icehouse. Unbeknownst to them on their spirited adventure, his young friends may be in mortal danger. Now Charles and his fiancée Kate Hogarth, who has come to join him in the search for the runaways, must artfully dodge false leads and red herrings to find the boys and the map—before X marks the spot of their graves . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Redmond's meandering fifth Dickens of a Crime mystery (after 2021's The Pickwick Murders) opens in 1836, as 23-year-old Charles Dickens arrives at Harrow on the Hill at the urgent request of his friend William Aga. William's father owns the Aga Academy for boys, where Charles and William support three charity students who have disappeared. William's 12-year-old cousin, Agnes, is also missing, and when the housekeeper discovers the girl's body in the school's icehouse, Charles winds up investigating a murder, as well as hunting for the missing boys. Impish Agnes had been waving around a "treasure map" before she died. Did someone murder Agnes for the map? Back in London, Charles's fiancée, Kate Hogarth, and William's pregnant wife, Julie, decide to go to Harrow to help their men unravel the mystery. But a crisis arises at the school that Charles must deal with, leaving the women to conduct an investigation that may lead not to a treasure but to a murderer. Convincing historical details and appealing characters make up only in part for a plot that wanders all over the place and never seems to lead anywhere. Redmond has done better.
