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 . . .

Before there was Frankenstein, a young Mary Shelley, her stepsister Jane “Claire” Clairmont, and poet Percy Bysshe Shelley are drawn into a shocking murder investigation in this deliciously captivating new historical mystery revolving around the real-life trio who would later scandalize 19th century England even as they transformed the literary world.

Stepsisters Mary and Jane find themselves caught up in a mystery involving a drowned Russian and missing diamonds, while falling for the charms of poets Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron—in this gripping historical mystery from the acclaimed author of the A Dickens of a Crime series.

1814: Foreign diplomats are descending on London in advance of the Congress of Vienna meetings to formulate a new peace plan for Europe following Napoleon’s downfall. Mary and Jane’s father, political philosopher William Godwin, is hosting a gathering with an advance party of Russian royal staff. The Russians are enthusiastic followers of Mary’s late mother, philosopher and women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft, which leads to a lively dinner discussion.

Following their visit, Jane overhears her father reassuring his pushiest creditor that the Russians have pledged diamonds to support his publishing venture, the Juvenile Library, relieving his financial burden. But when Godwin is told the man who promised the diamonds was pulled from the River Thames, his dire financial problems are further complicated by the suspicion that the family may have been involved in the murder.

Stepsisters Mary and Jane resolve to find the real killer to clear the family name. Coming to their aid is Godwin’s disciple, the dashing poet Percy Shelley, who seems increasingly devoted to Mary, despite the fact that he is married. And a young woman Jane befriends turns out to be the mistress of the celebrated poet—and infamous lover—Lord Byron.

As both sisters find themselves perhaps dangerously captivated by the poets, their proximity to the truth of the Russian’s murder puts them in far greater peril . . .

Two years before she would conceive of Frankenstein, sixteen-year-old Mary Godwin becomes captivated by the grim murder of a pregnant shopgirl and the disappearance of her stepbrother, involving her stepsister Jane “Claire” Clairmont and the seductive poet Percy Bysshe Shelley to solve the crime…

“Redmond deftly transforms a young Charles Dickens and his future wife, Kate Hogarth, into Victorian sleuths in this first installment of a new series. With meticulous attention to historical details and the known elements of Dickens’s life, A Tale of Two Murders unfolds a complex mystery that cunningly explores how Dickens might have been inspired to write the plot of his most well-known book, A Tale of Two Cities. Sharp, incisive, and delightfully twisty. I’m sure I won’t be the only reader exclaiming, ‘What the Dickens?!’” – Anna Lee Huber, bestselling author of the Lady Darby Mysteries

In this clever reimagining of Charles Dickens’s life, he and fiancée Kate Hogarth must solve the murder of a spinster wearing a wedding gown . . .

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Get ready for Mandy's return!

Charles Dickens und seine Verlobte ermitteln wieder im viktorianischen London
Der atmosphärische Kriminalroman für Fans von Rhys Bowen

London, im Juni 1835: Charles Dickens und Kate Hogarth haben sich verlobt, doch ihr Glück wird von einem grausigen Fund in Charles’ Nachbarwohnung überschattet: Die alleinstehende Miss Haverstock wurde ermordet und ihre Leiche wie auf einer Theaterbühne zur Schau gestellt. Charles vermutet, dass ein vor kurzem entflohener Häftling dahintersteckt. Der Täter scheint damit gefunden, doch in einem weiteren Fall treffen Kate und Charles auf Miss Havenstocks verschlossene Pflegetochter. Kann es sein, dass am Ende alle Fäden doch wieder zu der alten Dame führen? Ehe sich beide versehen können, schweben Kate und Charles selbst in größter Gefahr …