The Pickwick Murders

August 15, 2021
Charles Dickens is thrown into prison for murder. And not just any murder. Charles, parliamentary reporter for the liberal daily Morning Chronicle, is no fan of Sir Augustus Smirke, the well-named candidate for Parliament who's rumored to have seduced several younger women--including perhaps a maid who's gone missing. But he can't imagine the revenge Smirke, or someone else, will take for his less-than-flattering coverage. Receiving a letter that seems to offer him membership in the prestigious Lightning Club, Charles hastens to the club headquarters, where an initiation that requires him to escape from the 1835 version of a panic room brings him into uncomfortably close contact with Samuel Pickwick, the club's president, whose throat has been slit. Turned over to the constabulary by Tracy Yupman, the vice president who denies ever having seen him before, Charles counts down the days to the publication of Sketches by Boz, his first book, and dreams of how he can turn his plight into a fictional account, as he languishes in Newgate Prison. Redmond's descriptions of daily life in Newgate, based largely on the real Dickens' account of his own much briefer visit, are appropriately grimy, reeking, and desperate, with occasional shafts of sunlight. Since Dickens is locked up, the job of identifying the conspirators who framed him for murder falls to his fiancee, Kate Hogarth, who follows a trail of anonymous letters that interweave threats against her and Charles with poetic allusions that lead her closer and closer to the answer she seeks. But the prison sequences remain the highlight here. Excellent period flavor, a so-so puzzle, an improbable series of clues, and the usual foreshadowings of the hero's career.

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September 13, 2021
It’s 1836 in Redmond’s droll fourth Charles Dickens mystery (after 2020’s A Christmas Carol Murder), and Charles has much to celebrate on the eve of his first book’s publication—an invitation to join the exalted Lightning Club and his impending marriage. But when Charles is discovered with bloody hands next to the body of Samuel Pickwick, the Lightning Club’s president, Charles’s intrepid fiancée, Kate Hogarth, and his stalwart brother, Fred, are certain Sir Augustus Smirke, a member of Parliament, has framed Charles to deter him from investigating Smirke’s connection to Amy Poor, a missing girl. With Charles imprisoned in Newgate Prison for murder, his friends and family must solve a series of anonymously mailed riddles to unmask the real killer before Charles hangs. Besides painting a finely detailed portrait of life in London and its social hierarchy, Redmond creates captivating sleuths in the young Charles and the valiant Kate with their sharp-eyed observations of British society and its individuals. Readers will definitely want to see more from this author. Agent: Laurie McLean, Foreword Literary.

October 8, 2021

Redmond's fourth "Dickens of a Crime" title (after A Christmas Carol Murder) starts with Charles Dickens as the main character, but his fianc�e Kate Hogarth eventually takes the limelight when Charles is locked up in Newgate Prison as he awaits trial for murder. Kate's news of her fianc�'s incarceration is followed by a mysterious letter full of literary clues; she hopes by solving them she can gain information that will prove Charles's innocence. The mystery is interspersed with Charles's accounts from jail, including visits from Kate and her father, when Charles shares his theories of who is framing him. Kate's resolve to free Charles pushes against societal restraints and she comes into her own, challenging those in her way. The time period is 1836 and the vocabulary and historical settings--including limitations on women--reflect Redmond's view of the era. There are a few references to events in previous series installments, including possible spoilers, but new readers will be able to follow the current tale. The inclusion of real historical figures (playwright Joanna Baillie; the wife of Lord Byron) is amusing. VERDICT Fans of mysteries with historical backgrounds, especially the popular Victorian period, will enjoy this latest installment.

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