contents
Introduction: Dickensian Crimes, Mike Ashley
The Marshalsea Handicap, Gillian Linscott
The Three-legged Cat of Great Clatterden, Mary Reed and Eric Mayer
Murder in Murrays Court, David Stuart Davies
The Leaping Lover, Kage Baker
The End of Little Nell, Robert Barnard
Encounter in the Dark, F. Gwynplaine Maclntyre
The Lord No Zoo, Deirdre Counihan
The Bartered Child, Charles Todd
The Little Christian, Rebecca Tope
The Fiery Devil, Peter Tremayne
The Divine Nature, Kate Ellis
I Encounter an Old Friend and a New Mystery, Derek Wilson
Awaiting the Dawn, Marilyn Todd
The Letter, Joan Lock
Not Cricket, Judith Cutler
Tom Wasp and the Swell Mob, Amy Myers
Miss Havishams Revenge, Alanna Knight
The Prints of the Beast, Michael Pearce
The Mystery of Canute Villa, Martin Edwards
Watchful Unto Death, Hilary Bonner
The Tidal, Michael Ryan
The Thorn of Anxiety, Edward Marston
Reviews
"'Miss Havisham's Revenge' by Alanna Knight, in which we discover the part Estella Havisham played in the fate of Bentley Drummle
'Murder in Murray's Court' by David Stuart Davies, in which Oliver Twist has to help the Artful Dodger who has been accused of murder
'The Thorn of Anxiety' by Keith Miles, in which the mystery of Edwin Drood is at last solved
'The Divine Nature' by Kate Ellis, in which David Copperfield finds himself investigating the disappearance of Edward Murdstone
'The Letter' by Joan Lock, in which the skills of Inspector Bucket are once again put to the test in solving a crime that apparently never happened.
Charles Dickens created some of the most memorable characters in English literature and was also a larger-than-life individual himself, a champion of the underdog. The anthology presents a mix of specially commissioned new stories and lesser known reprints, by writers such as Hilary Bonner, Anne Perry, Charles Todd, Kate Ellis, Alanna Knight, Martin Edwards and Gillian Linscott. Many of the stories feature one or more of Dickens's characters, as a sleuth or as the victim of crime. Others are set in Dickens's real life with him investigating a crime or people closely associated with him, such as Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell or Hablot Browne including during his tours of America. Oliver Twist and the Artful Dodger meet up again in later years to solve an age-old crime. Just what became of the convict that frightened young Pip in Great Expectations? Was he really guilty, or framed? Inspector Bucket from Bleak House finds himself up against the greatest criminal mind of his day.