Murder in the Mist
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Tis the season of goodwill, and Dickens extends the hand of friendship to a stranded stranger and his nephews for Christmas, with deadly consequences . . .
"The ingenious solution to the mystery makes this the series’ best entry yet. Victorian whodunit fans are in for a treat" Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Wilkie Collins is looking forward to spending Christmas at Gads Hill, Charles Dickens' Kentish country home, but the festivities are cut short when a body is found on the snowy marshland. Timmy O'Connor was invited to the gathering with his four nephews after a chance encounter with Dickens, but is now dead.
Dickens is convinced the murderer is one of the convicts from a nearby prison ship, but Collins is not so sure. Who was this mysterious and unpleasant stranger from Cork who turned Christmas cheer to fear? Could Timmy have posed a threat to one of the guests? With the convicts, guests and even Timmy's nephews under suspicion, there is no shortage of suspects for such a violent act, but which one of them is a cold-blooded killer?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
With the excellent fifth outing for amateur detectives Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins (after 2021's Spring of Hope), Harrison approaches the level of ingenuity that's been a hallmark of her Reverend Mother and Burren series. Collins, who feels his best-known works have been eclipsed by Dickens's literary success, is still delighted to get an invitation to spend Christmas with the Tale of Two Cities author's family at their country home in Kent. The other guests include Timmy O'Connor, an Irish raconteur whom Dickens met in Cork on a recent reading tour, and three of O'Connor's nephews. Collins's hopes for a stress-free holiday are dashed when a guest is found beaten to death near the local church. The violent nature of the murder leads Dickens to suspect the killer is a convict from the prison ship docked near his home, but Collins wonders if a less obvious suspect is responsible for the fatal bludgeoning. He eventually turns the inquiry toward Dickens's guests. Harrison never lets her cheeky premise distract from her heroes' exhilarating detective work, and the ingenious solution to the mystery makes this the series' best entry yet. Victorian whodunit fans are in for a treat.
