The Angel
A Charles Dickens mystery
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Enquiry agents Grand & Batchelor are called upon to investigate the suspicious death of Charles Dickens in this “arch and witty” Victorian mystery novel (Publishers Weekly).
June, 1870. The world-famous author Charles Dickens has been found dead in his summer house where he had been hard at work on his final, unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Did he die of natural causes or is there something more sinister behind his sudden demise? George Sala, Dickens’ biographer, is convinced his friend was murdered—and he has hired Matthew Grand and James Batchelor to prove it.
The investigative team find themselves chasing a plot as intricate as the fictions penned by the deceased. And questions quickly mount: Did the celebrated author’s unconventional private life lead to his death? Who is the mysterious woman who appears at his funeral? And most urgently, can they bring an end to the mystery before it brings an end to them?
“Good fun, gentle humor, historic detail, plenty of twists, and a likable pair of heroes make this a book well worth reading.” —Booklist
“A plunge into the delightfully cutthroat publishing scene of Victorian London, where all loudly mourn Dickens while privately saying that the unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood definitely wasn’t his best.” —Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Was Charles Dickens's death on June 9, 1870, at his country retreat in Kent actually a murder? That's the question facing enquiry agents Matthew Grand and James Batchelor in Trow's ambitious if uneven third Victorian mystery (after The Circle). When George Sala, Dickens's garrulous biographer, asks Grand and Batchelor, whose motto is "no stone unturned," to investigate, they leap into action. Improbably, Dickens's staff and family members are soon opening up to Grand and Batchelor, as the police grumble. Two men sharing lodgings in London, investigating crimes while enjoying an uneasy relationship with Scotland Yard, invites an obvious comparison to Holmes and Watson, but Grand and Batchelor fall short of Conan Doyle's high standard. More successful is Trow's arch and witty tone and a plunge into the delightfully cutthroat publishing scene of Victorian London, where all loudly mourn Dickens while privately saying that the unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood definitely wasn't his best.
